Happy Labor Day everyone!!!   I’m spending the weekend finally pulling a ton of photos off of cameras, so I can finally share some of the projects that I’ve been working on, and totally slacking on posting.   Am I the only one who leaves like 500 photos on my memory cards before I get around to downloading them?? In any case, about a month ago, I showed you all my recent Annie Sloan chalk paint complete kitchen makeover.   In case you didn’t catch it, here is the before and after:

As part of the kitchen makeover, I gave my totally boring, plain oak island, a super hot makeover with some paint, trim and new island legs!!   Seriously, it is amazing how just a couple of special touches, can make such a HUGE difference. So I wanted to put together a more detailed tutorial for how I updated the island – this would be such an easy project for someone looking to make some inexpensive changes.   The whole thing was done in 2 separate days, but if you did it all at once, would probably take 5-6 hours tops! Before I start, I must confess – I was so excited when I finally decided to jump into this project, that I failed to take some really good “before” shots of just the island.   But here are a few that I found, so you can get an idea of what the island looked like before. It was basically a big oak block, nothing fancy, no detail work, just a big rectangle, with a countertop.

Kitchen Island Makeover Part 1 – PAINT!

Using a can of uber awesome Annie Sloan chalk paint, I went to work updating the oak cabinets with a beautiful shade of “french linen” paint, which is sort of a khaki type color.   Since you don’t have to sand or prime with chalk paint, I basically gave the entire surface a quick rub down with deglosser (to clean and remove 20 years of grime), and then got to work painting.

I removed all of the doors and painted the hinges with some Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze as I was going to be reusing the hinges (getting new pulls).   And no, as you can see, I didn’t empty out the drawers/cabinets when painting.   The entire paint job took me about 2 hours, so I didn’t even bother removing everything – no need! – it just wasn’t necessary!

I waited 24 hours after the paint dried.   Then I sanded and distressed the edges of the doors with 200 grit sandblock, and applied the first coat of clear Annie Sloan wax (after all, with 3 kids in the house, I needed this thing to be sealed and stain coated, ASAP).    The clear wax (or some kind of sealing/wax coating over chalk paint) is definitely not optional – the paint has a very chalk like finish to it when its not sealed – and there would be next to no stain protection without the wax – so don’t even think about skipping that step!   🙂

I didn’t take the makeover to the next level until after my kitchen paint job was completely done.   I finished everything up, and realized I was still lacking in the island area.   It was plain, and boring, and needing some oomph!!   So onto part 2 of the makeover…

Kitchen Island Makeover Part 2:   Add some Bling!

I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do, until I was browsing Lowes and found their island legs, and for less than $25 per leg!!    The legs were just the right height to wedge under the granite, and were actually held in place pretty firmly just by the weight of the table top.    I then used the trim pieces around the top to stabilize and brace them.   There was not really an exact science, or pre-measuring to this part.   I basically wedged the leg in to the spot I wanted it to be, and then worked my way around the island measuring the distances with the trim.

It took me about an hour to attach all the legs, cut and attach the trim piece – piece of cake!!!   I finished it all up with 2 coats of the French Linen, and clear wax.   I added the new pulls and knobs to the drawers which made a big difference.

And…   drumroll please…   here she is in all her HOTNESS!!!

Materials:

• 1 quart of Annie Sloan (or your favorite brand) chalk paint – $35
• Annie Sloan Clear Wax
• New Door Hardware:  $16
• 1 – 1″ x 4″ x 8′  pine board – $4.49
• 1 – 1″ x 4″ x 10′ pine board – $6.99
• 4 x Turned Pine 36″ island legs from Lowes – $22.98 each
• Brackets and corner supports – $11.98

Total price for the island makeover:  $166.38

Other posts you might like:

Annie Sloan Introduces Gilding Waxes How to Update Your Kitchen for Under $50 20 Unique Upcycled Kitchen Island Ideas Orange Be Gone – My $1000 DIY Chalk Paint Kitchen Makeover Reveal!!