Kitchen Peninsula Builder Grade to Custom Made

7 Materials
$200
6 Hours
Medium

One room/space/wall at a time, we're putting our own stamp on this builder-grade home of ours. A high bar area in the kitchen is not my cup of tea, but it's a little more than we can take on at this time so I decided to take this kitchen peninsula from builder-grade to custom made.

This is what it looked like before.....

Adding beadboard


The first thing I did was add beadboard to our kitchen peninsula. Beadboard is so affordable and easy to work with. I had it cut to the height I needed by the nice lady at Lowes and then we made the extra cuts that it needed ourselves. I put a bit of glue on the backside and stuck the sheets of beadboard on the wall, making sure to line them up on each side and using a level to be sure the vertical lines were all perfectly vertical.


I knew I wanted to add new baseboard to the bottom because the baseboard that the builder used in this house is the tiniest ever....AND...they thought it was a great idea to put the baseboards on before the ceramic tile floors were laid. IT WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA.

When I added beadboard to the back entry as seen HERE, I dug all the old baseboards out of the floor, and it is not easy or fun or...in my opinion...necessary. So for this project I decided to work around it. So I devised a plan and off I went. The beadboard is attached to the wall above the existing baseboard.

Drill holes to use as a starting point
Making cuts for outlet


Cuts were made for the outlet using a drill to make a couple of holes and then using those holes to start the cut with the jigsaw. Easy Peasy!

Cutting out for the outlet


Using the jigsaw follow the lines drawn for the cutout.

Remember to measure 5 times...cut once! :)
Measure, Measure, Measure!


Remember to measure 5 times...cut once! :

Layering the new trim


The 4" primed MDF in the above image was placed on the beadboard about 2" above the existing baseboard. Some of my beadboard sheets were left over from a previous project but all that mattered was that they were behind the MDF; it didn't matter that they didn't go all the way to the baseboard. I then used my nail gun to attach scrap 1 x 2's to bring the surface all flush so that I could then attach the new baseboard right on top of it all. I made sure to put my nails with my finish nailer through the new baseboard and into the 1x2's.

Corner cut is made at a 22.5-degree angle
Angle cuts at 22.5 degrees


I also added 1x4 primed MDF up at the top right below the countertop.


Next, I added pine 1 x 4's vertically in between the primed MDF on each end, at the corner, and in between the corner and each end. This meant some cuts would have to be made using our miter saw. The corner cut is not a 45 it's actually cut at a 22.5-degree angle on the table saw.

1 x 4 and 1 x 6 covering the end
Caulk and Paint


After the new 6" baseboard was attached right over the old baseboard. It ends up giving it a nice layered look; so much better than the tiny baseboard that was there to begin with. The final step was to caulk and paint and it's finished.

After the new 6" baseboard has been attached
Admire


I'm very happy with how our kitchen peninsula has turned out and still plan to add some corbels underneath the countertop. That will have to wait until this pandemic is over and I can once again shop for supplies.

Admire


After! From Builder Grade to Custom Made

Admire



Another look at the BEFORE!


Here's the before again...you're welcome!One day I plan to remove the kitchen peninsula completely and add a big kitchen island. That's a while down the road so, for now, we will enjoy this new stamp that we've easily and affordably added to our home!

 


Be well, my friends...

stay healthy, stay safe, and please stay home!


I'll be back soon with more DIY's that are happening around here during this season of quarantine!

 


~Cindy~

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  1 question
  • Shannon Shannon on Jun 04, 2020

    This looks great! How did you make the transition from this look to the wall the peninsula is connected to? We have a similar peninsula but not sure how to make the transition work since it connects to a long hallway wall.

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