One room/space/wall
at a time, we’re putting our own stamp on this builder-grade home of ours. A high bar area in the kitchen is not my cup of tea, but it’s a little more than we can take on at this time so I decided to take this kitchen peninsula from builder-grade to custom made.
This is what it looked like before…..

Before! Plain wall with tiny tiny baseboard.
The first thing I did
was add beadboard to our kitchen peninsula. Beadboard is so affordable and easy to work with. I had it cut to the height I needed by the nice lady at Lowes and then we made the extra cuts that it needed ourselves. I put a bit of glue on the backside and stuck the sheets of beadboard on the wall, making sure to line them up on each side and using a level to be sure the vertical lines were all perfectly vertical.

Glued on and secured with a finish nailer.
I knew I wanted to add new baseboard
to the bottom because the baseboard that the builder used in this house is the tiniest ever….AND…they thought it was a great idea to put the baseboards on before the ceramic tile floors were laid. IT WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA.
When I added beadboard to the back entry as seen HERE, I dug all the old baseboards out of the floor, and it is not easy or fun or…in my opinion…necessary. So for this project I decided to work around it. So I devised a plan and off I went. The beadboard is attached to the wall above the existing baseboard.
Cuts were made for the outlet
using a drill to make a couple of holes and then using those holes to start the cut with the jigsaw. Easy Peasy!

Drill holes to use as a starting point for the jigsaw blade.

Using the jigsaw follow the lines drawn for the cutout.

Remember to measure 5 times…cut once! 🙂

The first step in layering the new baseboard above the old using 4″ MDF
The 4″ primed MDF in the above image
was placed on the beadboard about 2″ above the existing baseboard. Some of my beadboard sheets were left over from a previous project but all that mattered was that they were behind the MDF; it didn’t matter that they didn’t go all the way to the baseboard. I then used my nail gun to attach scrap 1 x 2’s to bring the surface all flush so that I could then attach the new baseboard right on top of it all. I made sure to put my nails with my finish nailer through the new baseboard and into the 1×2’s.

Corner cut is made at a 22.5-degree angle on the table saw.
I also added 1×4 primed MDF up at the top right below the countertop.
Next, I added pine 1 x 4’s vertically
in between the primed MDF on each end, at the corner, and in between the corner and each end. This meant some cuts would have to be made using our miter saw. The corner cut is not a 45 it’s actually cut at a 22.5-degree angle on the table saw.

1 x 4 and 1 x 6 covering the end of the peninsula
After the new 6″ baseboard
was attached right over the old baseboard. It ends up giving it a nice layered look; so much better than the tiny baseboard that was there to begin with. The final step was to caulk and paint and it’s finished.

After the new 6″ baseboard has been attached
I’m very happy with how our kitchen peninsula has turned out and still plan to add some corbels underneath the countertop. That will have to wait until this pandemic is over and I can once again shop for supplies.

AFTER!!!

AFTER!!!
Here’s the before again…you’re welcome!

Before! Plain wall with tiny tiny baseboard.
One day I plan to remove the kitchen peninsula
completely and add a big kitchen island. That’s a while down the road so, for now, we will enjoy this new stamp that we’ve easily and affordably added to our home!
Be well, my friends…
stay healthy, stay safe, and please stay home!
I’ll be back soon with more DIY’s that are happening around here during this season of quarantine!
~Cindy~
What an amazing project! I love the way it turned out!
Thank you so much Diana! I really appreciate it!
I have almost the same island, I was wondering how you did the area where the bar height joins the countertop height, one the side/front of the island. My counter tops curve out and I’m having a hard time figuring out how to cut around the trim to make it fit around the countertop height granite. Please help! I’ve been wanting to do shiplap to the island but cannot figure out what to do with this area.
thank you
Forgive me if I don’t understand the exact area you’re asking about, if not, please help me to understand, maybe a photo would work. However, the backside (where the barstools sit) and the end of the peninsula are the only areas I did. I did nothing to the opposite side (above the cabinets) as my granite backsplash fills in that gap. I hope that makes sense. Feel free to email me at cindy@somthingpaintedwhite.com with photos so that I can help you figure this out.
All the best,
Cindy
Thank you! I’m emailing you know with pictures
That sounds great. I haven’t received an email from you. Be sure you have my address correct, cindy@somethingpaintedwhite.com
Thanks much,
Cindy
Very nicely done!! I love the difference!
Thank you so much! I appreciate that!