Monday, May 1, 2017

DIY Rustic Kitchen Peninsula: A Joanna Gaines Inspired Kitchen Copycat


Happy Monday!  

I painted my kitchen cabinets last year with homemade chalk paint, and have never really loved the way the backside of the peninsula looked.  It's a huge white elephant in the room.  It's the first thing you see when you enter the back door and it's nearly eye level from the family when you have a seat!  Normal people could care less about stuff like that, but it bothered me..bad.  

Even with stools in front of it, it looks out of place.  I had plans of adding reclaimed wood but decided against it, then I fell for Chip and Joanna's reclaimed church alter island, but I have a peninsula in my kitchen not an island (and no access to reclaimed church parts).  

So I faked it.  










From boring and blank...



 to conversation piece...






My inspiration...


Magnolia Market



I'm hoping mine doesn't get quite this distressed...(although I do have one extra kid than they do...)






Tools you'll need for this one:


  • scroll saw
  • 1X3 MDF for the vertical pieces (I use primed boards-makes me happier)
  • 1x6 for the base and the arches
  • liquid nails & trim nails
  • calk
  • ornamental piece (I found mine on Ebay)
  • paint
I'm not going to bore you with the details...but, get a game plan set first.  Tracking down an ornamental piece was harder than I thought it would be.  Try searching for architectural details, antiques, etc.  I did score this one for 20 bucks and painted it once it was hung.

Map it out...I always draw a picture of what I want and write the measurements all over it.  I cut the arches freehand with the scroll saw and sanded them down a bit, but they aren't perfect because I want it to be rustic.  I liquid-nailed them to the peninsula and used a few finishing nails to keep them in place until it cured.  Then I calked, hung the accent with liquid nails, and painted it. 

(That's the real deal there, mess and all.)

I'm happy with the view now when I sit on the sofa and when I come in the back door, the big white elephant has covered her backside!

I'm on the fence with distressing it, thoughts?


Thanks for checking in!

3 comments:

  1. You did a fantastic job! We have six kids and they do a natural distress - especially if you are putting barstools back. I have been wanting to paint my kitchen cabinets for quite some time, mine are solid cherry. I'm afraid with the 8 of us they will look horrible in no time at all -- how are yours holding up? On film, they look brand new.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Trisha! Thank you for your comment! The stools are already marking up the area, but I did not poly it yet so I am to blame. My kitchen cabinets were a praline maple and I was nervous about the paint as well. I used Varathane Wood Floor Sealer on the cabinets and we've had no issues so far, aside from an occasional touch up on the cabinet with the trash can inside-thanks to the dog who raids it!

      Delete
  2. That is so awesome. I love when people see ideas then create something on their own. I know that is one reason I love looking at blogs. I love new projects. Please keep up the wonderful job.

    ReplyDelete