Easy renter-friendly DIY Kitchen Island Counter for $160

Moving is a big pain, especially when there is a weird space under your kitchen cabinets that have no storage, and you have more kitchen gadgets then you have clothing — the dilemma my roommate and I had in our new Apartment.

The strange heater location was the reason this space existed but we were determined to find something that would fit and not break the bank.

old kitchen before
before

On a trip to IKEA, on a mad hunt to find a kitchen island under $200 that fit the space, I was on the verge of giving up my dream of a cheap solution… until I walked through the baby section. It turns out baby changing tables have shelves, are the perfect kitchen counter height and they are so cheap!

renter friendly cheap kitchen island hack

I ended up purchasing two SNIGLAR Changing tables for $39 a pop, and three LÄMPLIG Chopping boards for $25 each and creating the perfect countertop! We assembled the changing tables as per IKEA instructions. Nothing fancy here.

Then we placed the chopping boards on top of them. They were a perfect width with a bit of an overhang. The length was a bit short but that gave us the chance to hang a rack off the side.

renter friendly cheap kitchen island hack

To secure the chopping boards to the changing tables we used a few well-placed hinges at the back of the units. This lets us flip open the boards to access the storage space beneath, which is awesome for stuff like cutlery and kitchen utensils.

hinges to hold the chopping boards to the changing tables

We will probably get some bins and storage containers to help organize the space on the SNIGLAR shelves. But so far it’s been working great guns for us. If we’re more adventurous we may even attempt to paint or stain the SNIGLAR frame to match the rest of the kitchen.

open the countertop for storage beneath

With the addition of some $2 hinges from Home Depot and an old over the door hanging rack the new countertop and storage was complete, and the perfect addition to our new kitchen! Plus, our cheap DIY kitchen counter island only set us back about $160. Win!

~ by ekross