I started working on smaller projects for the dressing room yesterday, but around 5:30, I decided that I would prefer to start building the island. So I went to Home Depot to collect everything I needed for that project. It is not necessary to say that, once I got home with all those supplies, I did not have much time to work, but my main objective was to build the basic box, join the feet and put it in its place to be able to have an idea of how this room will look with an island. I will jump at the end and show you that part, and then go back to the beginning and show you the process.
This is what I have been anxious to see for a while. This is the size of the island and how it looks in the room.
The island finished will be 30 ″ x 72 ″, plus the cantilever in the countertop, which will be approximately an inch on all four sides. That will leave me with 36 inches of space on the floor on the four sides of the island. And although, in my opinion, I have known that 36 inches of space to walk around the island there is a lot of space, I have still been eager to see it. So I felt very relieved to take the island to the point where I could really endure it, put it in its place and then have the feeling of walking through it in the room to see for myself that it will really work. And it’s great! I still have a lot of space to open my jewelry drawer, which means that I will also have a lot of space to open all the drawers of the island. So my planning worked perfectly!
To build this, I started with the long piece for the bottom, I cut at 28 ″ x 70.5 ″, and that piece, nailed and then screwed the side pieces, which have 30 ″ high and 28 ″ wide.
Here is another view of that, with the background of the island towards the bottom of the image.
I don’t know why I decided to do it this way, but I stuck and then screwed the side pieces on the edge of the lower piece. In retrospect, I would like to have made the 3/4 “shorter side pieces, and the lower 3/4” piece on each side, and then nailed and screwed the pieces so that the side pieces were on top of the lower piece. However, it will work anyway.
First I nailed the pieces just because it is much easier to keep them together and nail them to align them, and then continue with the spax #8 cabinet screws of 1.5 ″, which do not require the holes to be hooked and not divided the wood.
I repeated that on the other side and then added the central divisor. This piece was cut 3/4 ″ shorter than the side pieces, since it was bound at the top of the lower piece. I measured and marked the center of the lower piece, aligned the plywood divisor and nailed it in place.
And then I followed the Spax screws through the lower piece and towards the edge of the central divisor to secure it.
And that was all with the basic box. Fairly simple!
Then I added a “frame” using 1 × 3 around the bottom. The purpose of these pieces was to give a little more depth to the wood in those areas where my feet would join, and also give me something to place the background. I attached these pieces only using caliber nails 16 of 1.25 ″. There was no need to wear screws for these pieces.
I turned the piece to join the frame on the other side because I wanted to make sure I was perfectly aligned with the border of the plywood background, and then attached 1 × 3 pieces on each side to complete that frame. I did not need those side pieces to join the feet, but again, the lower edge will extend on the island, and this gives me something to nail that edge.
To join the feet (the turned wood feet that have 4.5 ″ high and 3.5 ″ wide, from Lowe’s), I drilled holes for the feet threaded bolts. I did not bother to buy those metal plates in which the bolts are screwed because that would have added more height to the feet that would have to subtract from the drawer area, and I want to squeeze a fraction of an inch that can leave the general height of the island of 36 inches for the drawers. In addition, they are simply not necessary in a project like this. So, after measuring and marking how far, the feet would have to go to the lower edge so as not to hit the feet, I pierced the holes for the bolts of the feet of the furniture.
And then I used some wood glue at the top of the feet of the furniture …
And placed the threaded bolts in the holes that it had drilled. I made three feet on one side, I gave him a little time for that wooden glue to put on, I turned the island and made the other three feet on the other side.
That is what I got, but it was far enough to endure the housing of the island in an vertical position and had an idea of how it would look in the center of the room.
I think it’s going to be great! The size is perfect. It is large enough to have eight drawers on the side of the room hanging clothes, and four drawers and two cabinet doors on the room accessories side. Each section of drawer and cabinet will have approximately 34 inches wide.
And that leaves me 36 inches of space on the floor on each side of the island.
This is the side that will have eight drawers. I still need to solve the exact height of each drawer. That will be a kind of things “find out as progress.”
But something like that will be seen …
Here is a great view of this side …
And then this side will do it with the four drawers to the left and the doors of the cabinet on the right.
Then it will look like this …
And here there is an final view that looks from the washing machine/dryer to the door to the closet.
I would like to have started this earlier in the day to have advanced in the project, but at least I reached the point where I could really visualize the size of the island in the closet. I wish I can advance much more in this for the next two days! I hope to have much more progress on the island to share with all of you on Monday.
Margin note: I apologize to all of you, in monsters, who probably feel an incredible amount of anxiety looking at these photos of me working on this project before cleaning my disorder of previous projects. 😂 Sometimes I forget that not everyone’s work process is like mine, where I can push everything aside and jump to something new. And I promise you that my floor is fine. I will try to take time this weekend and clean things so that all of you organized do not have to feel anxious looking at the photos of progress on Monday. 😀
The additional decoration 2 is where I share my DIY and decoration trip while remodeling and decorption of the upper part of the 1948 fixer that my husband, Matt and I bought in 2013. Matt has more and cannot do physical work, so I do the majority of the work in the house for myself. You can learn more about me here.
