Thursday, August 25, 2011

my new $50 countertop



With the help of my sweet brother, my new butcher block counter top is cut to size and installed.

I knew that I wanted butcher block on my island area, but as I started to research custom butcher block counter tops, I found them to be pricier (about the same as you'd pay for granite) than I thought they were worth. If you want butcher block, Ikea is definitely the place to go! My piece of "Lagan" solid birch butcher block was only $39 at Ikea. Can you believe it? I was so excited!
After getting it home and taking it out of the box, I realized that I was going to stain it. On a scrap piece of the butcher block, I tested out a few different colors. The stain went on super blotchy.

I then realized that I was going to have to pre-treat the wood with Minwax Wood Conditioner. It worked magic!
After using the wood conditioner, I tested out three other colors on another piece of scrap wood. The stain went on a lot smoother with the help of the wood conditioner. Because I didn't want the color of the butcher block to interfere with my wall color I went with a medium-light Minwax stain color called "Puritan Pine."

After the butcher block was installed, stained, and sealed, I realized that it was lacking some detail, so I did what I always do...added mouldings.


I found a "stain grade" moulding at Home Depot that worked perfectly. After the mouldings were cut and nailed in place, I stained it to match the butcher block. It matches perfectly! It is always amazing what you can do with a few dollars of mouldings and some creative thinking.




Please click on the links on my "Favorite Places to Link" page to check out the linky parties that I have joined.

Thanks for reading!!!








37 comments:

  1. That looks fabulous!! I'm in awe!

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  2. That looks amazing, love the molding.

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  3. Great job! I'm your newest follower!!

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  4. Looks great! Dont you love Ikea?? :)
    I'm your newest follower!

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  5. oh my word - absolutely love it! well done girlie!

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  6. Nice job! We have a Lagan counter in our bathroom and I wish I had conditioned the wood before staining. It's not too bad, though, but I will use if for sure before we do our kitchen!

    -Jami @ AnOregonCottage.com

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  7. I'm so jealous. This is gorgeous! We have granite tile in our kitchen... I hate tile. Enjoy all the hard work, it looks fantastic!

    Found you via Shabby Nest.

    Krista @ While He Was Napping

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  8. I LOVE wood countertops...they are on my list to do!
    Rene

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  9. Hooray! So happy you are pinning! Love the butcher block! Looks great!

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  10. Your countertop looks fabulous-what a beautiful job you did!

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  11. whoop whoop, looks terrific! Well done. Hugs!!

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  12. Looks wonderful! We did something very similar to our island back at the beginning of the year.

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  13. Looks GREAT! Caught my attention! Stopping over from The Girl Creative linky party.

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  14. Hi Emily! Love the counters I cant believe that is molding I figured you did a custom router job, it really finishes it off. Just found your blog and it is awesome, can't wait to see what comes next, following along.

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  15. Love, love, love it! I have always wanted a butcher block counter. Now I know the IKEA secret - and we just got one here in Colorado.

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  16. That is absolutely gorgeous Emily! My sister just did the same thing to her island with the Ikea butcher block and she loves it. Way to go! :-)
    Vanessa

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  17. That looks fabulous! The rest of your kitchen looks gorgeous too! Thanks so much for linking up to The Creative Spark.
    Jenn :)

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  18. Your counter top is absolutely stunning. You gave such great tips about the price (who knew?) and wood conditioner. I really love the molding--I wouldn't have thought of it, but it makes it look so custom.

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  19. This is beautiful! I love the look of butcher block-and you made it look so easy to achieve! Thank you for the inspiration!

    I would love to have you share this at my link party, Show & Share!

    http://southernlovely.blogspot.com/2011/08/show-share-3.html

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  20. I LOVE it!! Butcher block is exactly what I want for my countertops and I have just not gotten to Ikea...the nearest one is 3 hours from me...but I am fixing to get on this!!

    Thanks for all of the tips!

    Lou Cinda :)

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  21. Love how this turned out. BRAVO!

    I wanted to let you know that I've got a great giveaway that ends Friday. It's for $100 to wallquotes.com, and trust me they've got something I know you'll love!

    Stop by and enter ASAP. I'd love to see what you would do with their products! See you soon!

    Artie
    http://niagaranovice.blogspot.com

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  22. Love this- your island is just beautiful and love the trim!! Thanks for sharing at Feathered Nest Friday! :)

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  23. Oh my gosh this is so SOOO amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing process of getting this look, you truly are an inspiration! I just can't get over how cool this is! :o) Thank you SO much for sharing it over at my link party Crafty Scrappy Happy Me Thursday! I seriously still feel a little speechless about how cool this is!
    Jaime from Crafty Scrappy Happy

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  24. Great job! It looks like you spent a fortune. I love the idea of adding molding to the edge. I found you through the shabby nest.

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  25. Love your countertop and the price can't be beat! Thanks for linking up and sharing this project, I'll be featuring this and hope you can stop by this weekend!

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  26. It turned out lovely, great job! Thanks for adding your link to Beach Cottage Good Life Wednesdays.

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  27. Yay! Thanks for linking up at Show & Share!

    By the way, I have a fun giveaway going on now, check it out if you'd like--
    http://southernlovely.blogspot.com/2011/09/literally-inspired-giveaway.html

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  28. Hi! I linked to your blog from BNOTP. You did a great job on your island. I think I'm running to IKEA tomorrow to look at the butcher block. It would be a great addition on my island. I quickly scanned through your blog. Did you do your kitchen all yourself? You've done a fabulous job. Going to read more in detail. Outstanding!!

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Thank you so very much for your sweet comment!!!