How To Make Your Own IKEA Butcher Block Kitchen Island from a Buffet Cabinet // EASY DIY

worstontheblockMarch 23, 2021

Need more counter space in your kitchen? Want an island but the budget is tight? Then follow along because this simple DIY will solve all your meal prep problems.

It won’t actually do the cooking for you. Then it would REALLY solve all your meal prep problems. But it sure makes the process a whole lot easier.

When Brad and I moved into our very first apartment, I had dreams of cooking weeknight meals and Sunday breakfast, the quintessential gatherings around the kitchen table, sharing a meal together.

Only to find out that in our new exciting apartment, there was nowhere to prepare a meal.

Literally.

It was a pretty good size kitchen, but all it had in it was a fridge, stove, sink cabinet with room on one side for a dish rack and the other for a coffee pot.

That was it for counter space. One sad 1’x2′ area beside the sink.

This would not do.

I had to come up with a solution that would allow enough space to prepare a meal without spending a ton of money, and BOY did I find it.

If you are in a similar situation, follow along. I’ll show you exactly how easy it is to DIY this kitchen island from a buffet table WITHOUT blowing the budget!

It worked wonders and I was able to prepare so many delicious meals in that kitchen. Lots of baked goods too.

What you’ll need:

A buffet cabinet (a dresser would work too if you don’t mind the drawers)
Butcher block (ours was from IKEA)
Behandla wood treatment oil (or other food-safe oil)
L bracket
Screws
measuring tape

Optional:

Paint or stain as desired (we used white paint and black spray for the knobs)
Paint brush
Saw (or a friend that has one)
Sand paper

Measure your space

This should really be the first thing you do for any DIY project. You have to know how much space you’re working with so that you can find a cabinet that will fit in your space.

You don’t want to bring a heavy piece home only to realize that it won’t work. It would be even worse if you did all the work to it and then realized it didn’t fit.

Always measure!

Obtain a piece of furniture

To keep to your budget, do your best to find a buffet cabinet for free.

You may be thinking, “Easier said than done! How am I going to do that?!” But trust me, people are getting rid of old furniture all. the. time. You just have to be ready and willing to go get it, perhaps with little notice.

But it’s totally possible.

The first thing to do is reach out to family and friends and let them know what you’re looking for. They may have something for you or they can keep their eyes peeled if anything comes up. We all have those people in our lives that are collectors or are constantly on facebook marketplace! (Don’t we? This can’t just be my people! 😆)

On that note, check facebook marketplace often. People post free items regularly, but typically you have to be pretty quick to reach out to them, and be willing to pick it up immediately. When it comes to these free items, typically the “seller” just wants it out of their house, so the first person that’s able to come, gets it.

Also, if your town has a “neighbors” or a “tag or trade” page, there will often be “free” posts on there. Again, don’t wait to pick it up!

Another great place, dare I say it, is the side of the road. You can find some serious treasures on the side of the road.

Don’t be afraid. People that put furniture out on the curb want you to take it. Speaking as someone who has done this several times, I would MUCH rather see someone give my furniture a new life than to see it go to the dump. Don’t be afraid to throw those pieces on the curb into your car.

They’re often in much better shape than you might expect, too.

And if you can’t use a piece you’ve picked up, flipping furniture can be a pretty lucrative side hustle, especially if you’re obtaining the pieces for free.

Lucky for me, my mom was happy to give me an old buffet she had lying around.

Refinish the piece, if desired

Depending on the condition of the cabinet and your décor, you may or may not want to spruce it up a little.

The nice thing about a make-shift island, is it doesn’t have the permanence of a brand new kitchen, where you may stick to a more timeless design versus a trend you love. With this kind of a DIY, you have the freedom to experiment with colors, textures, and be a little more bold than you would otherwise.

The rest of our kitchen had white cabinets with black knobs, so I did decide to stick with that design when refinishing our buffet, but don’t be afraid to get creative and have fun with it!

Since it will be put through the paces in the kitchen, it will need regular cleaning, so be sure to purchase a paint finish that is “wipeable”. You don’t want a matte finish in the kitchen! Make your life easier and go with satin, semi-gloss or gloss.

Refinishing the piece is a relatively simple process. Give the piece a quick sand to scuff up the finish so the primer and paint will stick. Always finish with a fine grit for a smooth surface.

You may (or may not) have to start with a primer, depending on the type of paint you use. Allow it to dry before going in with your paint. A small roller will work well for any “flat” parts of the cabinet, while you may need a brush for any intricate details and to make sure you get in every crevice.

Allow it to dry completely.

Think about knobs

This is another area where you could really update your island and make it reflect your home and personality. You can find pretty inexpensive knobs at Home Depot or on Amazon.

You could also spray paint the existing knobs to give them a facelift. This is what I did.

I already had black spray paint for metals from other projects in the apartment, so I simply sprayed them down outside (on a piece of cardboard to avoid a mess) to match the rest of the kitchen.

Again, you can really get creative here. It can always be changed later if you get tired of it.

Add your counter top

We actually used our buffet a little bit in the kitchen before the counter was ready to be installed. It was still pretty small and hard to work on.

But it was better than what we had (which was nothing)!

You really have to add the counter top to get that needed counter space. The beautiful butcher block gave us an extra 8 square feet to work on!

Ikea has (relatively) inexpensive options as far as counter tops go. I loved the look and the ease of the butcher block.

Another option would be to go to your local stone supply place. They often have leftover slabs that you can get at a discounted rate (or at least a lot less expensive than a full slab). This is a great way to get a nice piece of stone, and they will be able to cut it for you as needed.

You could also make your own DIY countertop out of concrete.

We went with the butcher block and were so happy with this choice. It worked really well for our needs and budget.

Cut counter top to size

The butcher block came in a 72″ slab that had to be cut to size. Our buffet was 39″ long, so we went with a 4′ long countertop, to hang about 4.5″ over on both sides.

Since we didn’t own a saw for several years after this project, we had our block cut by a friend.

Lucky for us, we had the perfect amount of butcher block left to also cover our portable Craigslist dishwasher (I loved this thing!) and create even more counter space than expected.

Once it’s cut, you’ll have to attach it.

We did this by simply attaching some screws at the back of the buffet with a few L brackets

Make sure the countertop is even on all sides! Measure it in several different places to ensure that it is even on top.

Hold the L bracket to the buffet and mark where it should go.

Then, working with a friend, secure one side of the L bracket to the buffet, and the other to the counter top, ensuring it stays in the right place and is even on all sides.

Use your driver to drill a pilot hole and then screw into the block and cabinet.

Seal counter tops

Now that the top is attached it’s very important, especially if you’re going to use this in the kitchen, to seal the counter tops.

This is done very simply with a food-safe oil. We used IKEA’s Behandla wood treatment oil. You can purchase the oil at IKEA along with the countertop.

Follow the directions on the can. It’s a very simple process. You should also seal it every few months to ensure the butcher block stays in pristine shape.

We also had an IKEA kitchen cart given to us. It was all wood, so to match it I simply painted the bottom half white, and left the top the natural wood color.

They were backed up to each other, so the counter space actually ended up being ideal in our apartment kitchen. I was able to keep all of my pots and pans on the cart, and my larger appliances in the buffet. It worked out quite well.

So if you’re tight on counter or storage space in your kitchen, I highly recommend this simple and inexpensive DIY hack to turn an old buffet into an amazing kitchen island.