A client wanted us to build the best kitchen island with seating we could create …to place in the center of their existing kitchen. Their cabinets were a medium brown stain with over-lay doors… nice but ‘nothing special’. In this case we weren’t looking to match the other cabs but to have an island made to stand out by contrast. We decided we’d paint this new island a very dark brown (almost black). 

If it was to be somewhat bolder than the other cabinets, I needed to make them with a heavy face frame (3” wide  stiles) that surrounded the doors and door fronts and to mount them inside the openings (known as ‘inset’)  instead of the doors over-lapping like the rest of the kitchen.  Additionally, we went with deeply paneled side walls and a strong detail molding for panels and the base molding’s cap. This would give the piece more weight and substance. Make it older and richer looking.

After a a few sketches about the layout, here is my final rendering of the island’s floor plan with a elevation view of it’s face.

Another detail to help make the island bold, is to use larger legs.  Here are some choices in 6” diameter that I showed them.

And here is how it turned out…..

They wanted the best kitchen island with seating that would fit in the space they had. I think they got it.