​ MY KITCHEN ISLAND WITH STOOLS

Because the kitchen is quite tiny, it definitely needed more counter space. I decided to build a kitchen island over the top of a freezer which is situated on the back wall. This allows several people to work in the kitchen at the same time. By adding a couple of stools under the overhanging counter, I've created a breakfast nook or seating for keeping the Chef company.

Since there were no kitchen islands on the market that can hold a portable freezer, I decided to build one from a large, wooden cabinet that I bought for $40 from Habitat for Humanity. The island has to be the right size to fit on the outside of the freezer. In this case, the freezer is 20 inches deep – so the cabinet needs to be 20+ inches deep, the freezer is 36 inches long – so the cabinet had to be long enough, and in terms of height, my freezer is 36 inches high (and it would sit on a dolly for easy access) - so the cabinet needs to be 40+ inches tall. I gutted the cabinet, structurally reinforced it and I put the freezer inside it.

The island originally opened from the top (because my freezer opens from the top) but because I wanted a matching countertop which proved to be quite heavy, I put the freezer on a dolly and made the island accessible through the cabinet’s front doors. The freezer inside the island needs to breathe so I left the back of the cabinet partially open. By extending the counter top in the front and on one side, which works well for my kitchen’s space, I was able to create additional seating area for whoever might want to have breakfast in the kitchen, etc... The only thing the kitchen island needs now is to be refinished on the outside to match the rest of the kitchen, and you're done. A beautiful kitchen island for a fraction of the price. I placed two Japanese stools under the counter and now I have ample counter space, additional seating space, and a freezer nicely tucked away inside the island.

I had two Japanese stools and in order to upholster them but didn't know anything about upholstery, I took an evening course with Continuing Education. These courses normally cost about $200 which paid for the upholstering of the stools and I also got to learn a new skill in the process. The process is not difficult. I just needed to cut foam to the size of the seats, glue them down, match up two pieces of fabric so the center of the design would be the same spot on both stools. I then stapled the fabric to the underside of the stools (making sure the fabric was nice and tight all around - by doing the two opposite sides and then the other two opposite sides...) I wanted a clear plastic coat over the stools, so at Dollarama, I bought a clear plastic table cloth for about $4.00 and I used that to put over my fabric and proceeded to staple it on as I did the fabric. Kitchens can get pretty greasy so the clear plastic coat over the fabric is a sure way to keep the stools looking nice for quite a long time. Once the stools were upholstered, the left-over fabric on the underside needed to be trimmed. To create and even cleaner finish, after trimming, I cut about 1 inch strips of card stock and covered over the stapled edges....