make your own kitchen island with breakfast counter

ah ... a cooking person's dream - a kitchen island with a breakfast bar! here's one from brian of caramelcook, made from the varde oven unit and countertops.

brian writes, "i wanted a bar overhang, so i bought two of the 69" lengths of the counter, cut them down a bit, joined them, and voila, a bar overhang on the back (with franklin chairs, the taller of the two models, which fit perfectly.)

also, i deliberately chose the oven unit so that i could put sliding trash and recycling bins in that space (plus it has the steel shelving which looks cooler than the particle board the other varde units have.)

view more of brian's kitchen island on flickr. also see brian's other hack, an ikea wall mirror from mirror tiles.

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the good folks at Unplggd (formerly know as ApartmentTherapy HomeTech) wanted a peek into my home work area for their column "behind the blog". go here if you want to see from whence i blog.

much thanks, kelly.