Building Unique Butcher Block Countertop Using Old Reclaimed Pine

Building a unique butcher block countertop for our cottage kitchen using old reclaimed pine made it feel cozy and special.

man planing butcher block countertop in planer

BUILDING UNIQUE HANDMADE ITEMS

If you have been following our blogs and vlogs, you may know that we have literally been building a handmade home. And included in that is our custom built kitchen.

We’ve built a handmade built-in pantry and experimented with building kitchen cabinets. We also built the frame for a kitchen countertop and island or what could also be called a peninsula since it’s connected to the sink area and not free standing.

OLD RECLAIMED PINE AND PRESERVATION EFFORTS

The plan was to make the countertop with reclaimed wood. And that’s exactly where we start here in the blog and vlog. We salvaged some of the original pine wood from our little pine cottage. And we obtained some old reclaimed wood from downtown Dallas, which is near our local area.

Since we have been learning a lot about preservation efforts, it has become such a privilege to steward these precious gems! Sure, it’s more affordable to use reclaimed wood at times (yet sometimes it can be more expensive). Many of these projects require a lot of prep and work so you end up paying with time and your labor. And that’s what you’ll mostly see us doing.

The renovations on our little pine cottage has been in no way a quick fix and flip project. If you are a real estate investor, that may be the way to go. But we didn’t buy our little fixer upper for that reason. We actually intended it to be a long term home for us initially.

This is why we have put so much love and care into our renovations. It may seem overboard, but it’s what made us feel more comfortable. To know that we did the best we could to restore our old house while learning along the way. We wanted to immerse ourselves in the preservation efforts instead of a quick fix renovation or by simply putting a band-aid on our situation.

BUILDING BUTCHER BLOCK COUNTERTOP

The new planer we bought came in real handy for building our unique butcher block countertop for our cottage kitchen.

We started out by building the island (or more accurately, peninsula) first. It would appear to be the island in our small kitchen, but since it would be attached to the sink countertop, it’s not freestanding like a normal island. However, we would still use it like a traditional kitchen island. It really is one big long countertop and our main area for countertop space.

Nate cut every single piece of wood himself to build the butcher block countertop. It was a handcrafted diy labor of love. And it turned out so good. He had to split the width of the countertop into three parts so that he could fit each piece into the planer. We would not be able to feed the entire width of the countertop into our planer. It’s not wide enough for that.

Then he would connect the three separate sections of butcher block together to build the island (peninsula). The planer was a must have tool for this job. There was a lot of cutting, gluing, clamping, and planing involved in the project. I’ve heard of people buying butcher block countertops, but not making them on their own! I’m really impressed with my hubby’s carpentry skills. For real though!

man clamping old pine butcher block sections together

BUTCHER BLOCK COUNTERTOP STRATEGY

The island (peninsula) was built in one direction. Let’s say it’s vertical. In most cases, the countertop with the sink it connects to, would be horizontal in an L shape. However, for our build, we decided to keep the adjoining countertop vertical. Essentially so it’s going the same direction as the main island.

man installing old pine butcher block countertop in small cottage kitchen

This was another attention to detail that Nate came up with. I thought it was a great idea. It promotes a more seamless design and looks so good. We will discuss that more in an upcoming blog post. But wanted to give you a sneak peek into how this build will progress.

UNIQUE BUTCHER BLOCK BUILD

I realize that not everyone has the time, skill, or desire to build handcrafted items for their home. It’s certainly not an easy task. And I honestly don’t think we planned on building as many unique and handmade items as we have. It just sort of evolved into that.

Wherever you are in your diy or renovation journey, I hope that you will be inspired to tap into your creativity and try something new. Even if it’s for a small project or a blend of old and new. Whatever you are able to find and salvage. Or are capable of transforming something you find into a unique piece for your home.

It’s such a joy to have some sort of meaning in every day items in your space. Not everything will be this way though, so no need to go overboard and put that pressure on yourself. For instance, there are many items we just have to buy from the box stores like our Home Depot lighting fixtures in our bedroom and office.

The cool thing was that we replaced the ones in our kitchen and living room with antique chandeliers and an old wall sconce. We were able to find the perfect ones after looking long and hard at various antique shops. Believe me, it took a lot of patience!

Overall, little by little with time, you will start to create a creative masterpiece in your home. Don’t give up. Take your time. You will find what you need or want eventually. Or find another solution. I’m sure you’ll allow your creativity to shine!

man with hand on planer and old pine butcher block in the background

Building a unique butcher block countertop for our cottage kitchen using old reclaimed pine was our little way of being creative in our home.

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own~ while working full time jobs! Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead. Read more about us here.

You can also watch a video about this here.