Expert: Jamie Yocono - 11/25/2007

Question
hello, i haven't found a rolling kitchen island that i like in my price range (500$). i need more counterspace in my 1968 lousy kitchen and my husband is extremely handy.  so i am going to have him build me one.  in order to move it along faster, i need to know what sort of things to buy to accomplish this.  what i would like is 3 deep drawers on the left(vertically stacked) with a double door cabinet to the right with the whole thing about 38 inches high on wheels.

would we buy drawer cabinets and another cabinet and stick them together on a base and finish it off?  or is it better for him to make drawers and buy drawer hardware?

i apologize if this seems like a stupid thing to do but i'm desperate for a little more space and we don't have the money to redo the kitchen

thanks so much

Answer
Hi Christine,

Thanks for the detailed question and specific questions- many times, I get questions from people, and after reading them, I have NO IDEA what they're asking! So it was nice to read something that was specific.

I think that your budget of $500 is reasonable, and I can give you several suggestions. First, I think the most important thing for this rolling island is the top. You didn't mention what material you like- butcherblock, marble, plastic laminate or Corian, but I would start with that and build around it. You could look at home improvement stores, they often have remnants lying around, for a fraction of their normal price. So you might be able to find a nice piece of granite, or a finished butcherblock top for under $100. That would save a ton of work and cost associated with making a top. Then- depending on the size of what you buy, you could build around it.

I did a search for some plans, and came up with this:  http://www.freeww.com/kitchen.html

There are quite a few plans there that might work for you, look at the first thing listed - it's Kitchen Island Plans/Kitchen Cart Plans. Those should be helpful for helping your husband determine proper height and dimensions.

I have a couple of suggestions about drawers- you mentioned wanting a stack of 3 of them. The material and time it takes to make doors often makes purchasing them a much better alternative. There are many companies out there that sell them- it really depends on which side of the country you live on. You want to order components (drawers, doors, etc.) from places that are close to you, to reduce your shipping costs. So if you write back and tell me where you're located, I will give you a couple of suggestions as to where to purchase some components for your island.

You can look at www.rockler.com and www.westerndovetail.com for some components - their catalogs contain a wealth of information and products for a project like yours.

Another suggestion- he could build the shell of a cabinet- and you could use those wire hanging drawers that you sometimes see as organizer shelves. These are sold at Lowes and HD, and would cut down a great deal on costs. Depending on what you're going to store in the drawers, these might be a really great solution for you.

Last thing- if I were making this for myself and trying to stay within a certain budget, I would splurge on the top, find some premade drawers to use, and then design something using both of those store bought components. I would try to make it spiffy, with some cool casters like these: http://www.mockett.com/default.asp?id=4¶m=gzCart_products.categoryID&data=CA...
Look around Mockett's website, they have many cool products to make your projects VERY nice looking.

I think that's enough to get you started. When you start coming up with some specific questions about building the island, write back and I'll give your specific answers.

Good luck!

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com