How to Transform a Desk into a Kitchen Island

This is how you transform your ordinary desk into the best kitchen island imaginable.  I know, It’s pretty presumptuous to claim “the BEST,” but there are so many cool things to consider for your next island – YOU might even decide it’s the best…if you want, no pressure.

First you need to find the perfect desk, dresser, cabinet – which ever piece speaks to you. I collected five desks before I settled on this one. I liked the curve of the top drawer and the symmetry of the drawers.

Kitchen flow — A kitchen island can pull a whole kitchen together and make it the most accessible, efficient place in the house. To make this dream a reality, look around your kitchen, where do you spend the most time? Do you make a lot of smoothies, really like to throw things away (me), have children who like to cook and who you want to teach to clean up after themselves? All of these kitchen uses can be incorporated into a well built island. Consider what is near your kitchen island. As you can see below, our table was near one end of the island. So we placed the tilt out trash on that side, making it easier for our kids to scrape off their plates before putting them in the dishwasher. Since we had also redone the kitchen we had a deep drawer built in that held our everyday bowls, plates and cups.  This drawer was placed conveniently between the dishwasher and the table allowing our kids to put away dishes and set the table – such a beautiful thing! We also kept the island temporarily short so our children had a counter height where they could make lunches themselves and help cook in the kitchen. (read about the Kid Friendly Kitchen here)

This arrangement was perfect for us. A tilt out trash helped our kids to clean up after dinner then each put their plate in the dishwasher. I wanted our kids to know how to work in a kitchen even if it’s just to take care of themselves. Here is the tilt out trash can. I first saw this idea while living in New England and decided one day I would have one. Little did I know that one day I would feel comfortable enough with power tools to make one myself and I’ll show you how on this post.

This was the portion closest to my oven, I wanted my island to be useful on every side. Consider what items you want easy access to. You could easily include your blender near the fridge or a shelf that holds all your drink accessories. I chose to have a place to slide a few cutting boards and pizza stones. Eventually I put some hooks right under the counter there for hot pads, but you’ll just have to take my word on it- I don’t have a picture.

Consider making a cut out for trash on top – easy food prep and looks awesome. Place a cutting board next to the opening and prep away, simply sweeping scraps off the side. You can read about how to make our own counter top with food prep access here.

Tilt out garbage — no more smashed toes from roll out versions.  I like that it tilts out instead of having to roll along the floor, it take less space to toss your stuff.

First you have to build a structure the size of your trash can and attach it to your desk or dresser piece. You can see that I made the 2×4 structure come just under the top of the desk.  I did this so I could use the desk top as reinforcement for the structure to fit in. Later after I added the top counter piece (read about it here), I added a few spacers to the trash can structure so it was the same height as the desk top. I also used wood glue and varying sizes of screws to attach it to the island. Pay attention to where the hardwood is in your desk. There were good places to screw into along the drawer supports, the top and bottom of the desk. If I were to do this again I would use 2x2s and not 2x4s.  It wasn’t weight bearing and added unnecessary weight. But I guess we can sit on the island and jump up and down and it won’t break so that’s a plus. 🙂

The tilt out door was built by creating a bottom piece and front “door” piece. Basically a square wooden rod the length of your door and two right edge triangles to act as support. In the second picture you can see I had just added wood glue and was preparing to add the plywood door. I further attached the door to the support triangles with short screws that would not come through on the other side of the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then used a continuous hinge to attach the bottom of the door to the island. A small chain was attached at the top so it wouldn’t fall all the way open.

 

 

I added several adjustable felt pad levelers so I could move the island without it damaging my floor and the adjustable feet helped me get a perfectly balanced top. Simply tighten or loosen each foot until it gives contact to the floor.

 

 

I used sliders on the bottom of my recycling cans, inexpensive and only cost $7 instead of $75. It is also much easier to clean and get to added storage behind. Make sure to use a heavy use, polyurethane on the floorboard of the island to hold up from the sliding.

 

Useful shelves –There was room behind my recycle cans so I added a shelf for more storage. Here I stored extra can liners and rarely used baking containers. You can see there is a cut out portion where the recycling bin fit.

Very affordable counter top design — plywood. I know, why would anyone choose plywood. Well it was meant to be a fill in until I could get my glorious butcher block top, but the fill in worked out so well I quickly moved on to other things. Who knows, I may add a butcher block top one day, but for now, here is how you make a plywood counter.

Easy to clean — After you have finished adding all your favorites to the desk you will need to choose trim and paint to pull it all together. I chose a simple trim that looked easy to clean and didn’t have small areas that would collect more things for me to clean:). I also chose a satin finish paint that could hold up to a lot of use and a lot of washing. Each of these trim pieces were caulked before painting to fill in gaps and give it a professional look. This thin trim is actually extra slats from our 2″ blinds.  They didn’t add a lot of bulk, but still gave the island nice defining lines.

There you have it, the Best Desk to Kitchen Island, or the best for me. I would love to hear about your must haves in a kitchen island, share comments and pictures below.