How to Make a Kitchen Island From Old Cabinets

Dawn Gagnon
by Dawn Gagnon
3 Materials
Well after having renovated my kitchen, I had a few pieces of the original solid wood cabinetry that I decided to keep. One such piece had three large drawers i it and the added storage was just too valuable to let go to wasted.
This is the finished product it is on casters so I can move it out of the way when I need extra space.
The first thing we did was build a simple top for it out of 2 by 4s. In a future project I will make this top into a legitimate butcher block counter top so stay tuned :D. We simply "toe-nailed" them together underneath and finished them off around the edges in wood trim.
To give the little storage island some style, we added these decorative corner brackets. Which cost about $7.00 each.
To make the island mobile, we bought heavy duty metal ball casters and attached to the bottom of this former cabinet. Now we can place it where we need it and it came in very handy during holiday meals as it gave us a buffet style area to place dishes utensils etc. for our guest to get to easily.
The finished product is a functional island I can move around. I never understand why so many renovators toss out everything when they do kitchen make overs when there is so much you can do with the old cabinets? It's wasteful. An island like this would have cost me several hundred dollars, but after we re-purposed this left over cabinet, we spent less than $100.00 . For more of my renovation posts and articles please check out my decorating blog! Dawns Interior Decorating Solutions.
Suggested materials:
  • (7 ) 2 X 4   (Lowes)
  • Wooden Corner brackets   (Lowes)
  • Metal Caster Rollers   (Lowes)
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  • Cristina Addie Cristina Addie on Jan 10, 2017
    Great job!!!
  • Debbyanne Debbyanne on Mar 01, 2020

    I have an old solid desk with draws and thinking of doing something similar for a kitchen island and adding a trolley underneath on the non draw side. Adding some caster wheels on the bottom for my country kitchen. It is very old and small so looking to brighten it up.

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