A Rustic Kitchen Island- DIY

After officially making this house ours, in March 2015, we knew pretty quickly that we wanted to give the kitchen a little face lift.

But like most new home owners we didn’t have a whole lot of extra money to put toward the kitchen beyond paint and sweat equity. After living in Pine Daisy House for about a year I was starting to get the #itchtoswitch a few things. The kitchen remained at the top of this list.

Keeping the Integrity of our Modern Cabin

Continually keeping with the integrity of our modern cabin can be quite challenging. I love the new styles of brand new modern farmhouse homes. I also know the need to embrace the mountain living style of our home. So, a never ending challenge for me is to find a way to strike the right balance.

I regularly use the website/app Houzz to find inspiration. Upon realizing we wanted to give the kitchen a simple facelift I went to this handy website to seek inspiration. I found this image:

I was struck by the rustic nature of this kitchen and loved the way the island color made it the focal point of the room.

The Kitchen Island Facelift

Once I landed on painting the island cabinetry and counter top I started researching the best way to do so. I decided to use Annie Sloan chalk paint for it’s versatility and ability to paint right over the existing cabinetry.

Here are the products I used:

• Annie Sloan Graphite
• Annie Sloan Dark Wax
• Annie Sloan Clear Wax
• Annie Sloan paint and wax brushes (borrowed from a neighbor)

What the Kitchen Island looked like before

I love the open format of our kitchen. It’s my favorite room of the house. As you can see, when we moved in, the kitchen island was a huge brown behemoth. The countertop is a very useful butcher block top, but, at the time, was in it’s natural state and sealed with a glossy poly coat to repel water.

How I Distressed the Countertop

Starting off I sanded the entire counter top to get the poly coating off.

Then using several tools I distressed the top. I gathered a hammer, nails, screws, a file, and even a chain. Then, I got guidance from YouTube on how to distress the counter.

I enlisted the kids to help me with the distressing, they thought it was so fun!

Once I had the counter distressed I begin to paint and then wipe on the dark wax.

As you can see, the wax caught in all the nooks and crannies we had created when we distressed the counter. I added layer upon layer of wax until I achieved the color and look I was after.

How I Chalk Painted the Cabinetry

This entire experience was my first foray into the world of chalk painting. I was immensely pleased with how easy it was to work with. First I did a quick wipe down of all the cabinet surfaces (especially since I had just sanded the counter). Then I did two light coats of the chalk paint. Once it had slightly dried I took a nubby wet cloth and wiped the corners to simply wipe away a little bit of paint. It created the distressed look I was hoping for. Using a wet cloth to distress, is call a “wet distress” method.

Then once the paint was completely dry (I waited about a day to be safe), I wiped on clear wax to give the cabinetry a slight shine, even though the overall look is very matte.

Living With the Finished Product

Annie Sloan Chalk paint is water based so overtime the dark wax on the counter top has slightly wiped away. Also due applying a few layers of wax the total dry time was a little fiddly.

• The dark waxed counter took slightly over a week to completely cure (we just didn’t use the counter, which was a little annoying)
• The chalk paint took a full 48 hours to dry due to the clear wax finish I applied on top.

Now, almost three years after the project is complete, the dark wax has slowly worn away giving it a continued beautiful rustic color. I regularly use cutting boards on the counter, placemats and coasters. When I clean it, I gently wipe the counter using disinfectant wipes such a clorox or lysol.

I adore the story of our kitchen island. I chose to tackle this project only a few days before I cracked the first paint can. It was an amazing first experience with chalk paint and gave me just the confidence I needed to begin tackling other projects (like the fireplace).

With hope for you and your intentional home,