How to Make a Kitchen Island for a Small Kitchen

This Kitchen Island Stores Under the Cabinet

5/28/2025

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This build, plus the microwave cabinet, is the perfect addition to Steph's kitchen!

After discovering damage to a lower kitchen cabinet, we eventually removed it and then repurposed it into a rolling kitchen island.

Here's how we did it.

Materials/Tools:

Makita 18V X2 LXT Lithium-Ion (36V) Brushless Cordless 6-1/2 in. Plunge Circular Saw (Home Depot)

Makita 55 in. Plunge Saw Guide Rail (Home Depot)

Makita 39 in. Plunge Saw Guide Rail (Home Depot)

Makita 18V LXT Sub-Compact Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless 2-piece Combo Kit (Driver-Drill/Impact Driver) 1.5Ah (Home Depot)

Cabinet Pulls 15 Inch (Amazon)

Everbilt 2 in. Caster (Home Depot)

Husky 26 in. Hardwood Tool Cabinet Top for Rolling Cabinet (Home Depot)

Japanese Pullsaw (Amazon)

KREG Cabinet Hardware Jig (Amazon)

Water damage of a kitchen cabinet due to a water leak from sliding glass door.

Shortly before heading off on a week-long vacation in the summer of 2024, we discovered water damage on the bottom corner of this cabinet. There was nothing we could do at that point, but after returning home, we took a look at it and decided to removed the cabinet to see where the water that damaged the cabinet was coming from.

This is after we removed the cabinet, replaced the flooring, had a new door installed and then painted and added trim to repair the wall.

The cabinet sat in the garage from June until December when the new sliding door finally was put in. We studied this thing for a long time coming up with a plan to reuse it.

We decided that in order to reuse the cabinet we'd have to cut the back of the cabinet off to remove the part that was too damaged to reuse. We cut the cabinet using a track saw making a cut on each side and top and bottom, matching up the cut lines as we moved around the cabinet.

Cutting the bottom was the trickiest part but using a track saw and Japanese pull saw we were able to fully cut through it.

Because we cut the back off, we lost the second row of shelf pin holes. Saving time, we only made a few rather than put in a full row. A decision we ultimately regretted.

A little spritz of canned air cleaned the saw dust out of the shelf pin holes.

At some point in the process, we decided to turn the cabinet upside down. In doing so, we now needed a solid board for the bottom. The plastic laminate countertop was cut down to size and worked perfectly. Using the tape on the edge kept the laminate from chipping.

Since the bottom was now going to be the top of the island, the surface needed a lot of prep to get a smooth surface. The old paint needed to be peeled off and sanded, holes needed to be filled and a couple of coats of primer was needed before the final paint was applied.

It's not as flawless as I would have liked, but the final Behr paint made a big difference.

It's not as flawless as I would have liked, but the final paint made a big difference.

We've had this butcher block look tool cabinet top for a while.

This is a hardwood tool cabinet top made by Husky. We cut one edge to fit the width of the island.

Everbilt top plate casters swivel two inch diameter 150 pound capacity.

We used these casters.

We attached the casters in place.

The top was a bit difficult to screw into place. We used a flexible extension bit as well as a right angle drill adapter.

We even reused the original shelves after cutting them down to the new depth of the cabinet.

We made a new back for the cabinet using a thin scrap board we already had. With the exception of the casters and the front handle, everything on this build was already on hand or reused.

Old door, after we removed the cabinet and before we made repairs.

New door, finally time to make repairs and put the cabinet back.

This is the original cabinet along with the microwave placed on top.

How to make a mobile kitchen island for a small kitchen.

And here is the new pull-out kitchen island along with the new hanging microwave cabinet. It's so much better!

how to make a rolling kitchen island from an old kitchen cabinet.

There is even a place for small items to sit when the island is in use.

how to build a mobile kitchen island with storage.

When the microwave is in use, the cabinet can be pulled out to place hot items when they come out.

How to make a kitchen island with storage.

There is space behind the microwave for ventilation and to be able to access light switches.

How to make a kitchen island for a small kitchen.

The mobile kitchen island is perfect for this very small kitchen.

This was quite a creative challenge to turn this old cabinet into a functional kitchen island with storage. We spent a lot of time, just looking at the cabinet trying to figure out a game plan. The decision to cut the back off was easy, but after that, we kind of stalled. It just didn't look right.

I'll take credit for suggesting we turn it over and make the bottom the top. Once we did that, it just came together like it was supposed to!

This, along with the microwave cabinet will now be at the top of my "favorite" builds list. This turned out so well and the best part is it makes the kitchen so much more functional!

Please note: This is not a sponsored post.

FYI: We are not professionals, and we don't claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first!

FYI: Affiliate links are being used on this page. Purchasing via these links help support MDP.