DIY Counter-Height Breakfast Nook

You can add a counter-height breakfast nook to your own kitchen.

While most breakfast nooks are built at standard table height and use benches or booth-style seating, modern decorators have taken breakfast nooks to a whole new level. Now, people are building counter-height breakfast nooks and using bar stools to save space and add some extra storage under the nook. If you have the basic knowledge for installing countertops, then you can easily make your own counter-height breakfast nook. Does this Spark an idea?

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Square cabinetry, 2/3 of the size for the breakfast nook area
• 1 1/4-inch thick table top, full size for the breakfast nook
• Drill with screwdriver bits
• Cabinet brackets
• 1-inch wood screws

Instructions

1. Measure the area where you’ll install the breakfast nook. You’ll need 1.5 feet of clearance in back of the nook. The table top should have a 1.5-foot overhang on three sides for people to sit. The fourth side, or second long side, will have the cabinet drawers. Order your desired cabinet under piece to the appropriate size.

2. Measure and mark where your cabinetry will go. You’ll want it 3 feet out from the nook wall.

3. Position the cabinet piece so that the doors or drawers are facing outward into the kitchen.

4. Set the cabinet brackets at the halfway point on each of the four cabinet top sides. Make sure the other bracket hole is on the outside, as it will support the tabletop. Mark the screw holes with a pencil and screw wood screws into the cabinets.

5. Set the tabletop into place. Make sure that it is set so that it has the proper overhang on the nook side, or back, and is even on the left and right sides. You should have a 1/2-inch overhang in the front.

6. Drill pilot holes from under the cabinet through the brackets into the the tabletop. Be careful not to drill all the way through; this is just a guide hole. Drill the 1-inch wood screws into the tabletop.

References

• Kitchen Views: Kitchen Seating and Island Countertop Overhangs
• Woodworking Basics: Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship; Peter Korn

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish