Refinishing An Ikea Kitchen Island

IKEA FORHOJA kitchen island refinish remodel

This week, I decided to do a quick post on a Sunday instead of the usual Monday about how I refinished our old Ikea kitchen island. You know the one. It’s in every 20-year-old’s kitchen. We’ve had it for years, but we’ve been doing a bunch of kitchen updates over the summer and I think it’s very common, once you’ve started updating stuff, to realize that other things in the space no longer “go” with the new look. I had been thinking about refinishing the island anyway and once I saw it with the new backsplash and cabinets, I decided it really needed to be revamped.

IKEA Forhoja kitchen island refinish remodel Montreal lifestyle DIY blog before after

It’s a super simple process. I didn’t even sand the wood. I basically laid down cardboard, mixed two chalk paints together and went to town on the island with a foam brush. I had ordered the Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint in Refreshing, but it was a bit more green than I wanted. So then I got Rust-Oleum Chalked Paint in Serenity Blue, but it was a bit too grey. I ended up mixing the two colours together to get a really pretty pale aqua colour.

IKEA Forhoja kitchen island refinish remodel Montreal lifestyle DIY blog

Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint Refreshing Rust-Oleum Chalked Paint Serenity Blue IKEA Forhoja kitchen island refinish remodel Montreal lifestyle DIY blog

one coat paint IKEA Forhoja kitchen island refinish remodel Montreal lifestyle DIY blog

after three coats of paint IKEA Forhoja kitchen island refinish remodel Montreal lifestyle DIY blog

I didn’t paint the tabletop because we often prepare food on top of it and I’m not sure the paints I picked were food safe. And I kinda like the two-toned look. I did three coats of the chalk paint and although I preferred the ultra matte look, I decided to add a bit of wax top coat to seal the drawer fronts and shelf planks. Chalk paint is great because you don’t have to seal it if you don’t want, but I figured the parts that we touch frequently could use a bit more protection. I just used an old chalk paint wax I had from previous projects, Folk Art Home Decor Wax. Any paint sealant or top coat would do the trick.

Ikea Forhoja kitchen island cart 2 Montreal DIY lifestyle blog budget kitchen remodel

Ikea Forhoja kitchen island cart refinish Montreal DIY lifestyle blog budget kitchen remodel

So what do you think of our new-and-improved Ikea kitchen island?

xoxo

 

 

2 thoughts on “Refinishing An Ikea Kitchen Island

    1. There’s no special reason! I just like how easy chalk paint is to use, how fast it dries, the nice colours they come in and the matte finish. You could definitely use whatever type of paint you want!

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