IKEA peninsula design 'hack'

[IKEAlover1983]

Kitchen side of peninsula

Table side of peninsula

I had always had the opinion that being able to see all the mess of kitchen prep from the table during dinner was no fun.  It seemed every peninsula/island with seating area I saw was always all at counter-height and everything was on view.  I had thought of the above solution for that, and we had the perfect kitchen to see how it worked.  (this was before IKEA offered the pieces to accomplish this)

We used 40" tall wall cabinets and installed them on the back of the base cabinets on the kitchen side.  We made sure to be at the right height, on a solid wood base, so that we would have two tiles of height for the kitchen side backsplash of the peninsula, but looking at the photo, it looks like we miscalculated by a smidge 😆.  My spouse also added some sort of connection:  either additional thicknesses of lumber to the inside back of the pot drawer and at the corresponding height in the wall cabinets on the table side to provide solid screwing hold (less likely), or, using straight metal brackets with two screw holes through the back panel on both ends at the top and bottom the sides, inside the cabinets (more likely).  I'm sorry, but I just don't remember and we didn't take reno photos then like we do now  😂

Also, we used the same color/finish doors, but with a bit of a pattern, and the same finish hardware, but knobs instead of arches, on the table side, just for a difference.  If you look closely, you will see we installed LED flat puck lights inside the glass-door cabinet at the top, and under the bottom, lighting up the 'cubby' where the phone and turtle are.  They were also IKEA, but not available at our local store.  On a business trip to Toronto, I was able to pick them up.  I can't remember how/where we plugged them in, but I know the wires were pretty much concealed.  We also installed the same LEDs in the two cubbies at the top of the sink wall cabinets seen in the background, but they were not lit at the time of taking the photo.  There was also lighting in the toe kick area of the 'base' cabinets on the table side:  the remaining two LED puck lights from the 4-light set, if I remember correctly.

We are doing our current kitchen, again with IKEA, and will be implementing many of the same features, so stay tuned!

[lubnaab]

I am looking forward to seeing your brand-new IKEA kitchen! You did a great job with this one, and I am sure you'll do great again with your new kitchen. You can share pictures with the community once your renovations are done!  😇

[IKEAlice]

Really like what you did with the wall cabinets! Also very excited to see your new kitchen  😃

Don't know how far you have gotten yet but I'm adding a link to our website where you can find some inspiration and helpful tips Kitchen Ideas & Inspiration - IKEA CA  ✨

When it's time to go into details, you can find some inspiration here Ideas For A Quick And Simple Kitchen Makeover - IKEA CA on how to make your kitchen more personal in a few simple steps  ✨

Keep us updated on the progress!  😊

[IKEAlover1983]

We are redoing both the kitchen and bath at the same time 😜 😝 (both with IKEA Kitchen cabinets) , and having all the main floor plumbing completely re-done, from the outside walls inwards.  The plumber should finish up today, then we have to finalize a bit of ducting and wiring and insulation, and drywall both rooms.  We're now in Quebec, so it's not legal to do your own plumbing or electrical work, otherwise, I would have done both as I did in our first IKEA kitchen in Ontario.

The good new is, we are now missing only two tall cabinets for the bathroom, which should be available before we're ready for them, and toekicks/decor strips for the kitchen, which are in stock or will be shortly also.  None of those things will halt progression, though, which is great.  We've had some issues with the experience, but this is not the place for that.  We knew going in that there were still supply chain issues, so the piece-meal acquisition of everything we needed was expected.  

[IKEAlice]

That sounds like a ambitious but very fun project!  😄  You seem to be on good track!

Good to hear that the missing material won't stall the process  👍

Would love to keep getting updates in the community  😊