Advice on building my first cabinet project (Kitchen Island)

"chaniarts" wrote

I followed that. You do not see any of the plywood box, but it is there to give strength, ease of construction, and a place to attach the panels.

Easier to build, I suppose, but it seems like a bit of extra expense for materials, but it would save on labor. If your labor is free (cost wise, at least) then I would go with real frame and panels.

You're preaching to the choir. :-)

Is there anything more amazing than a large group of voices that know what they're doing? One year (the year the first shuttle went up) I was walking near the open windows of The Chapel at Cambridge (University) when I suddenly heard a few random human voices doing scales. The voices formed around a common song and many other voices fell in and a kaleidoscope of sound emanated from the open windows and hit me with both a warming and chilling experience I shall never forget. The Choir of King's College was practicing. One of the few warm April mornings and then this. I could have died right then and there. You can't buy s*it like that. We punted the river Cam and nothing I could do to ever lose that sound. That experience messes with my head.....to this very day. No wonder I like harmonies so much. Everly Brothers, Peter & Gordon, Mamas and The Papas, CSNY, Hollies....s*it, I could go on and on. . . . Talk about going off on a tangent....

That is what I did. Used Cheery ply for the carcass and trimmed out with cherry for the face frame, drawer fronts on one side and false fronts on the other. Used maple for the cutting board and solid surface for the top. Took about 6 months to complete.

You can see the result at URL:

"Robatoy"

I could have died right then and there. You can't buy s*it like that. We punted the river Cam and nothing I could do to ever lose that sound. That experience messes with my head.....to this very day. No wonder I like harmonies so much. Everly Brothers, Peter & Gordon, Mamas and The Papas, CSNY, Hollies....s*it, I could go on and on. . . . Talk about going off on a tangent....

There can be no doubt that plenty synapsises firing, but..... Which one started _that_ revolution?

Jim

Real nice haul. I did not know anything about the usual size of cherry trees.

Thanks Bob AZ

In a McMansion, shame is a _given_.

-- Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. -- Storm Jameson

A kitchen island is a "kitchen" component, subject to unique wear and tear, including changes in temperature and RH, that a piece of furniture sitting in your living room is not generally subjected to, and most of the time ultimately looks like it indeed belongs in the former, instead of the latter.

Design parameters dictate material choices. A "kitchen island" generally incorporates a toekick on one or two sides as a necessity for performing kitchen chores when standing at its surface; usually an electrical receptacle mounted one, or both, end panels; perhaps sinks, cutting and serving space, and cooktops on its surfaces; drawers and/or cabinet doors on one work side; cabinet shelves with doors on the opposite, which may also incorporate multi-level seating; and often some sort of shelving built into the sides; and generally has a counter top surface that can be a considerable weight.

That it may look like a "base cabinet" at the end of a run is no accident, as form follows function in a well designed kitchen.

Most of the solid wood, furniture like suggestions in this thread are nice, idealistic, ideas, but, IME of designing and building kitchens that contain kitchen islands, most will prove impractical for both the environment and the above design requirements.

The idea of a solid wood kitchen island is indeed possible, if you can pull it off ... however, your professed skill level may be severely challenged doing this satisfactorily enough to stand the test of time.

Seriously consider the advantages of using a kitchen "base cabinet" methodology of cabinet construction, at least in part, as well as making maximum use of the dimensional stability of a cabinet grade plywood for any panels, reserving your hardwood for your stiles, rails, and trim elements, while still coming up with a design that works well, and looks nice in a kitchen environment.

Another caveat: when deciding upon which advice to take in this thread, you may want a bit of 'show and tell' photographic evidence that the adviser has some actual practical experience in the task ... which "chaniarts" nicely provides on the design side.

Regardless of how you wind up building it, think about how you intend to use it first...with a sink is one thing, with a cooktop another and just counter space is still another.

You need to think about the intended use because that dictates the sort of storage incorporated in it. For example, if it is to house a cooktop, you'll want to store pans and skillets and other stuff like spatulas, hot pads, maybe large forks and ladles, etc. Relative to those things, here are a couple of suggestions...

1. IMO, deep drawers for pots and pans are a royal pain; I much prefer shallow sliding trays behind doors.
2. In fact, *most* drawers are a pain because most wind up with a jumble of stuff; they need to be divided and an easy way to do that is to cut shallow "V" grooves along each side (or front to back depending on what is to be stored) spaced maybe 1" - 1 1/2. You can then cut/sand thin pieces of wood with a matching "V" to use as dividers. Make the fit sloppy. Drawers - even shallow ones - can also be fitted with sliding trays; there are all sorts of things that fit nicely in an inch or a bit more of space.
3. Everybody wants a pullout cutting board. I don't. I want one that I can easily take out and set on the counter to carve/slice/cut something. We have that - two, in fact - but most of the time we we use a small chopping block that resides on top of the island where it is always handy. It is about 7 1/2" square so it doesn't take much room, plenty large enough for slicing a tomato, chopping onion, trimming a chop, slicing bread.

Thank you for a good lesson, Swingman. Great post.

Bill

Thanks for the lesson! I too am thinking of doing an island and have saved your post for reference.

A particularly Sage piece of advice! :)

Let me know if I can help in any way ...

Thanks.

Thanks for the images. How well does that slide out on the cutting board hold up long term? I'd be a little worried about using a cleaver on frozen meat there.

"Lobby Dosser" wrote

I would like to make one observation, about his post.

The advice given is very accurate, and astute, if you are considering it from a custom cabinet shop point of view, or from a general contractor's view. It is also a good idea to keep things simple and using standard base unit construction, if you are building the project for yourself and your skill level may not be up to pulling off an all out custom unit all in one piece.

If you are relatively skilled in the art of cabinet and/or furniture making, you should still seriously consider not using a modified base cabinet construction concept, but instead, challenge yourself and go for a one piece custom unit.

It is possible to pull it off, and have it be functional and beautiful, and be the source of much satisfaction and pride. Additionally, you can add features and maximize the function to have it be the best solution possible for your intended use.

I'm just saying, don't totally neglect the possibility of designing your own unit. You still may decide to go with the standard base unit modified for the job, but make your own decision.

You will notice that my reply was made directly to the OP's initial post and addressed the original question in the context in which it was presented.

Saves a lot of useless blather, like your above ...Which has absolutely nothing to do with the OP's self professed situation.