Build an Island Stools in Your Kitchen

I bought my first home in 2005 and my wife and I had several requirements. We wanted all brick for maintenance and durability, a fenced in yard for the kids and the dog, and a functional kitchen. After looking at new builds and older homes we finally settled on a ranch style house that met all but a couple of our requirements. The price was good so we decided to buy and later remodel the kitchen to meet our needs. We had been in the house several months and completely settled in when we decided it was time for our remodeling project.

The original design Had a den/living room area separating the kitchen with a thin non support wall which had the stove and oven combo and cabinets above the stove was a range hood for ventilation. After careful evaluation I started imagining a design we could create from the existing floor plan that would maximize our living space. We decided to tear down the non support wall and create an island with an attached bar.

The project consisted of build an island stools in your kitchen ripping out the existing cabinetry and stove and microwave/ vent and replace them with new appliances. The questions arose about; If we were going to replace the stove and vent hood whether or not to replace with a vent hood that came down from the ceiling or some other mechanism for ventilating the cooking area. After doing some research there were several options for both. Vent hoods can cost up to several thousand dollars so I really looked hard for an alternative. There are two major types of built-in stove vents telescoping and inlaid. The telescoping vent models come up out of the back or from the middle of the stove heads. The inlaid is a vent that is about four inches wide down the middle or back of the stove heads. The telescoping models were several thousand dollars while an inlaid model was a little cheaper. We decided on an inlaid model and proceeded to find just the right one. I searched all over to find a good deal on a stove and finally I went to Sears I happened to go into the pick-up entrance by accident on saw a side room for discounted returned items or floor models. What do you know there was a brand new never been used downward venting stove at $900 dollars less than any other model I had seen. I purchased it and the decision was made.

After the dilemma was resolved it was time to get to work. I ripped out the wall and cabinets took out the stove and microwave. I enlisted my brother to help with the lifting and when finished we had a clean slate to work with. We patched the ceiling where the vent hood pipe had gone up then started on the island. We bought pre-made cabinets from Home Depot and at around $60 dollars a piece and stained them ourselves. We framed the stove with the two new cabinet pieces then cut a hole in the floor for the downward facing vent. Above the stove we installed a hanging light tied into the existing switch. For the bar we built a 2x4 frame behind the stove and screwed them into the new cabinets. For the counter tops we tiled, I say we but by brother was the one who did it. For the bar top I got a 12 inch oak plank and nailed a nice trim to the sides. We stained the bar with the same stain as the cabinets and bought a couple of nice build an island stools in your kitchen.

All in all the project ran me around $3500 dollars. The beauty is that with walkways on either side of the bar access to the kitchen is doubled. My kids love to sit at the bar and eat and now that we have been living in the home for 4 years we can't even imagine what it was like the old way.