• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • DIY Home Projects
  • Home Tour
  • Recipes
  • About

Craving Some Creativity logo

menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • DIY Home Projects
  • Home Tour
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Free Email Series
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Home Remodeling » Kitchen

    Published: Apr 1, 2022 · Modified: Nov 12, 2022 by Rachel

    Kitchen Island Makeover: Adding Trim

    This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure.
    3796 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    Adding trim to a kitchen island is a budget friendly way to build your dream island! Upgrade an existing island or enhance a brand new design. Step by step tutorial and before and after photos included.

    Large grey kitchen island with breakfast bar in traditional trim and two tone different color from the cabinets.
    Contents show
    1 The Before
    2 Recommended Tools and Supplies
    3 More Home Improvement Projects
    4 Step by Step of Our Project
    4.1 1. Remove Any Existing Trim or Decorative Facing
    4.2 2. How to Wrap a Kitchen Island
    4.3 3. Cut the Trim and Decorative Elements
    4.4 4. Add baseboards
    5 Tips for Making Miter Cuts
    6 The Secret to Pro looking Trim

    When we took on this kitchen remodel, it was quite the plight. What you see today was not the original concept. Honestly, there were points during the renovation where I half expected Ty Pennington to show up and start narrating. However, the finished space is worth every sleepless night and squabble over whether to paint the kitchen cabinets or installing new countertops.

    We’ve previously highlighted how to build a kitchen island and how we made it into a stone veneer. However, something was just not sitting right with me. Then one day out of nowhere, BAM! It hit me like a bolt of lightning. The island needed a makeover.

    While our island may look intimidating, it’s not necessarily a project you need to hire out for. This is actually much simpler than it looks. You only need some basic woodworking skills to change out the facade. If you can cut a 45-degree angle, you can add trim to a kitchen island!

    The Before

    The original, builder grade bar looked like this:

    Kitchen island makeover before showing how to resize and build a kitchen island.

    This is the original island that was installed in the house and our plans for it. These details were pivotal in transforming the island’s aesthetic to match the overall kitchen design scheme. Adding trim and corner columns provides a full-bodied and traditional style to enhance the piece.

    In fact, it blends so seamlessly, you’d never guess it wasn’t part of the original bones of this home. If you aren’t sure what style for your kitchen island, check out 20 Gorgeous Kitchen Remodel Ideas for more DIY inspiration and a variety of different layouts.

    Recommended Tools and Supplies

    While I understand that kitchen island designs are often different, as well as the size. Our kitchen island base is 5 feet wide x 4 feet deep. These are the basic supplies one need for adding a design such as this. Links are included if you are not familiar with a tool.

    • ½ x 6 boards in poplar, oak, or birch (varying lengths)
    • ½ x 4 boards in poplar, oak, or birch (varying lengths)
    • (2) Traditional Corner Posts
    • (2) 4×8 feet sheets of Smooth ¼ or ½-inch plywood
    • (14 ft) baseboard trim
    • 1.5-inch finishing nails
    • Nail Setter or Brad Nailer
    • 180 grit sandpaper
    • 220 grit sandpaper
    • Random Orbital Sander
    • Wood Filler
    • Paintable caulk
    • Miter Saw (highly recommend) or Mitre Box

    *Poplar isn’t much harder than yellow pine, but birch is more expensive. We painted our island and didn’t want the recessed grain that oak can show over time. Therefore, we used a mix of poplar in places that wouldn’t get as abused and birch for better rigidity on the front.

    ** Half inch thick plywood is sturdier and what worked best for our design. However, you can use thinner if you don’t have enough overhang or will get rigidity in other ways like the framing or smaller boxes.

    More Home Improvement Projects

    • The Ultimate Guide to using Stone Veneer
    • How To Install Glued Vinyl Flooring
    • How To Repair Electrical Cords
    • How to Paint Furniture like a Pro

    Step by Step of Our Project

    1. Remove Any Existing Trim or Decorative Facing

    The first step, in our case, was to remove any existing trim and make the faces as level as possible. Because we had built the bar out previously, we only removed the previous stone veneer walls. Underneath, it was a nice flat surface to work with.

    Side of kitchen island in progress of makeover.

    ***Pro Tip: Know how much countertop overhang you have to work with. You don’t want the trim to stick out further than your overhang. We installed new countertops, so we made the new countertops wider and larger to account for the new trim.

    2. How to Wrap a Kitchen Island

    This part is not always necessary. If you have a smooth, paintable surface after removing the trim, then you don’t need to add a new face.

    Blank surface wood faced kitchen island with corner posts.

    For our design, it was best to wrap some plywood sheets because we had previously drywalled and we removed that. Home Depot cut the plywood to size for us to make it easier to haul home. Fair warning though: Always, always double check their measurements before you get home!

    We added these beautiful corner posts to anchor everything together and give the island some dimension. The posts are square, so we cut a long notch out of the back to fit the post over the corners of the bar, but you could design the framing so that the corner posts fit into it square. Another idea is to use them like table legs under the extended countertop. Here are several examples. If you don’t want corner posts, using flat strips to make a corner is very nice too.

    3. Cut the Trim and Decorative Elements

    Making a high-end looking trim design is all about layering decorative trims.

    Added baseboards and trim boards to an island.

    We started out making a traditional wainscotting frame with 3 sections on the front and 2 on each side. The bottom is slightly lifted because it will be covered by baseboards and quarter round.

    Sneak peek of finished kitchen island with trim added in kitchen remodel.

    We added small trim to the inside of the boxes and mitre cut them like a picture frame.

    4. Add baseboards

    Corner posts on kitchen island showing how to cut baseboards.

    Now, I loooooove custom looking trim work. For most, some nice, simple baseboards would have been beautiful. However, we also created our own baseboard design. The shot above shows the cuts we made around the corner column. You can also see that we laid a small decorative trim on top of the ½×3 poplar board to create a taller, custom baseboard.

    ***Tip: We used a brad nailer for all of our nails, but if you use a regular hammer and finishing nails, you will need a nail setter to sink the nails into the wood and fill them for a smooth face.

    Tips for Making Miter Cuts

    Mitre cuts are essentially a 45 degree angle cut, rather than a straight cut. Our corner columns and joints use several of them.

    1. You can use a Miter saw (my preference), table saw, or miter box. I would only recommend a miter box for ¼ inch thick boards. We always double check the chop saw or table saw with a carpenter triangle to make sure it’s straight up and down.
    2. Always measure from the longest side of the cuts.
    3. If you plan on painting it, the corners are much more forgiving with wood filler or caulk.
    4. Check twice to make sure you are cutting the correct angle direction. We have caught ourselves many times about to cut the reverse angle.

    The Secret to Pro looking Trim

    Although we were pretty good about any gaps and ridges, a painted surface is going to have to be filled. I use both wood filler and caulk, but how do you know which to use and when?

    Wood filler is used for flat surfaces that are on the same plane (yes, geometry!) and surfaces where I need some structure to feel smooth. Nail holes or where two boards are very slightly misaligned height wise are examples, I generally don’t fill gaps between boards with wood filler because often wood filler will crack over time when the two boards move independently.

    Paintable Caulk is used to cover joints that need flexibility or when two different materials meet. For example, I use caulk where the wood meets the counter tops, the tops of the baseboards, and the corners of the framing.

    If you want to learn more about my techniques, I have posts about caulking baseboards and installing trim and wainscotting. The one key for me is using a quality wood filler like this. It goes on smoothly, can be thinned, and easy to work with. I have tried a lot of different wood fillers.

    Diagram of where to caulk and fill nail holes, seams and joints for professional woodworking and trim.

    If you are painting white, or light colors, filling cracks is essential. The secret is to put in the work, meaning to fill each nail hole, every seam and joint that has a crack. It really isn’t that bad; I did all of it in a few hours. I usually do the wood filler first, then sand the entire bar and, lastly, caulk the seams. This is what makes the entire job look seamless and professional!

    Large grey kitchen island with breakfast bar in traditional trim and two tone different color from the cabinets.

    The kitchen remodel is finally finished! You can see the full kitchen makeover here. We painted the bar in a custom mix of Lamp White and Raw Silk from Fusion Mineral. Because this is a high traffic piece, I sprayed a water-based polyurethane from Benjamin Moore. I have a post on my favorite maximum protection topcoats for furniture.

    Weekend DIY project. A pegboard organizer in the craft room above the desk workspace.

    Grab our free series "Weekend Home Projects that will Transform Your Life"

    Sign up below to receive updates including free printables, organization tips, home improvement projects, recipes and more!

    More Kitchen Update Ideas

    White painted kitchen cabinets with stainless drawer pulls.
    Save Time Painting Cabinets
    Collage of affordable kitchen island light options and placement of island lights.
    Affordable Kitchen Pendant Lights
    Kitchen with blue tile backsplash, white cabinets, and gray granite countertops.
    Peel and Stick Tile Backsplash
    Laundry room cabinets and shelves above a washer and dryer in small laundry room.
    How To Install Wall Cabinets

    PS I love seeing your creations! Be sure to take a photo and tag #cravingcreative on Instagram! You can also stay in touch with me through following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and subscribing to the newsletter!

    « DIY Clay Coasters
    DIY Welcome Sign for Porch »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Dawn says

      January 28, 2021 at 10:24 am

      5 stars
      Exactly what I have been searching for!!! Looks AMAZING! Can wait for the total reveal. Thanks for SHARING!

      Reply
    2. KJ-San says

      June 13, 2020 at 11:02 pm

      5 stars
      Nice design. I like how you used the original island as the base instead of destroying it and making everything from scratch. I’m curious how you attached the top counter top to the base. It looks like a couple of kids leaning on it will be enough to bend the 4 L-straps holding it.

      Reply
      • Rachel says

        June 15, 2020 at 12:42 am

        Great question! We have granite countertops which are caulked into place. It isn’t drilled or attached directly other than caulk/adhesive. The L brackets we use are pretty heavy duty and the wood helps to support it at it’s most vulnerable point in the bend. The key for this design is that over half of the slab is over a stable support, not the l-bracket, so that it can’t rock.

        Reply
    3. Monica Wideman says

      April 24, 2020 at 8:59 pm

      5 stars
      What did u use to make the boxes is that just strips of the mdf?

      Reply
      • Rachel says

        May 04, 2020 at 1:02 pm

        I used trim pieces from lowes. I think they are 1/2 thick by 3.5 inches.

        Reply
    4. Sal says

      February 22, 2020 at 11:21 pm

      5 stars
      Hi are those corner posts four sided? Or are the backs cut out so it fits over the cabinet corner? It looks great and I’m planning on upgrading mine. Thank you.

      Reply
      • Rachel says

        March 14, 2020 at 8:37 pm

        I am pretty sure we notched out the backs to fit over the corners, but I would contact the manufacturer to be sure.

        Reply
    5. html color says

      April 02, 2018 at 5:02 am

      5 stars
      Great work! I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Headshot of Rachel Beach, the author of Craving Some Creativity.

    Hi, I'm Rachel!

    Creativity makes me energized and fearless. My husband and I have been renovating homes for over a decade and love to share our passion for all things home. Follow along for remodeling tutorials, recipes, and entertaining ideas sure to inspire!

    More about me →


    Popular Posts

    • How to Paint a Bathroom Cabinet the Easy Way
    • How To Caulk Baseboards like a Pro
    • How To Beautifully Organize Your Linen Closet
    • How To Paint Cabinets with a Sprayer

    Featured On

    Collection of Expert Features including Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, Apartment Therapy, Angie's List, This Old House Magazine, The Huffington Post, Delish, Wayfair, and Real Simple Magazine.

    Comforting Family Recipes

    • Chicken Kale Soup
    • Mediterranean Salmon Avocado Salad
    • Oven Roasted Butternut Squash
    • Ultimate Lemon Blueberry Muffins
    Pinterest Widget including a snapshot of what Craving Some Creativity has pinned recently.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility Policy

    Favorites

    • Blog
    • Shop
    • Our Home

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2022 Craving Some Creativity