Thinking of doing some work in the kitchen yourself? A lot of things in here make really great DIY projects which is wonderful because it means you can have a custom kitchen with lots of flair and personality. One of the elements that can be a bit more tricky and intimidating is the countertop. Sure, you could just buy one but it wouldn’t be the same as making your own butcher block countertop from scratch for example. If you’re interested in the behind the scenes of a project such as this we have a few ideas to share with you today.

DIY Butcher Block Countertop

One of the projects we have in mind comes from instructables and shows how this 6×3 butcher block countertop was made out of soft maple. It has a really beautiful finish added using some antique walnut gel stain and sealer. There’s a few main tools that you’re going to need if you want to work on something similar and they include a table saw, a miter saw and an orbital sander plus a few other things that you find enumerated in this tutorial.

DIY Butcherblock-Style Countertop With Undermount Sink

There’s a few details to consider when making a butcher block countertop and it’s not only the overall size and shape. Take into consideration any cut-outs that need to be made for elements such as the sink for example. This DIY countertop was custom-made to work with an under-mount sink so it took a little bit of extra work to make the necessary adjustments and to get the measurements and everything else just right. You can find the full tutorial on addicted2decorating if you’d like to get more info on this project.

Farmhouse style butcher block countertop

Butcher block countertops are a bit friendlier and easier to make compared to others because wood in general is easier to work with and more accessible and affordable. In other words, this is the perfect style if you’re thinking of making a kitchen countertop yourself as opposed to purchasing one or hiring a professional for the job. You can cut and polish the wood yourself and you can even combine several pieces if for instance you want to get an L-shape. There’s a great tutorial on tidbits-cami which explains the whole process and gives you a bunch of useful tips.

How to Make Butcher Block Countertops

It’s not really common practice if you want to you can use reclaimed wood for your butcher block countertop. This is a good option for cases when you want to get that weathered look for aesthetic purposes but also if you want some save some money in the process and turn this into a very affordable project. Using reclaimed wood for this can make things a bit more complicated so head over to twelveonmain to find out what the strategy for such a project should be.

Just Another Wood Block Countertops

There’s also a video tutorial made by Our Little Nest which explains how to make a butcher block countertop from start to finish. What they’ve made here is a custom countertop that’s fairly small in size, meant to be added to a 1970’s camper. It’s the perfect project for such a setting because it saves you quite a bit of money but also because the style and the whole DIY aesthetic really suit this sort of space.

Scrap wood butcher block countertop

We also found this video by TG Woodworking super interesting because it shows how this butcherblock table was made from scratch using scrap wood. Most of the pieces were cut offs from other projects and various places which weren’t being used for anything else and would have ended up in the trash. The design is simple and it has a ton of character. The countertop ended up having this really cool patchwork pattern on it from all the different types of wood that were involved.

Brass features and wood butcher block

Butcher block countertops are not great just for kitchens. They can also look nice in bathrooms and in fact this can be a really great way to add some warmth to this space and to make it feel more inviting. The building is basically the same whether you’re doing this for the kitchen or the bathroom. If you have an undermount sink you need to be extra careful when making the cut out and this video tutorial shared by SimonSaysDIY can give you some very helpful tips to help you get this part just right.

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Wood and maple countertop block

There’s no rule saying you have to use one type of wood when building your butcher block countertop. In fact, one of the tutorials mentioned earlier had this really cool patchwork design from all the scrap wood pieces used in it. On that note, you might also want to check out this two-tone countertop which was made using two different types of wood: walnut and maple. One is light and the other is dark and this gives the countertop a unique striped pattern that looks super cool. Check out Old Guy Woodworks for an in-depth description of this project.

Butcher Block Counter Made From 2×3 Lumber

A nice detail about DIY butcher block countertops in general is that they get to showcase the natural beauty of the wood with knits and everything. We really like projects that don’t try to hide these details and don’t consider them imperfections. They add a lot of character to what would otherwise be a simple and plain design. With that in mind, check out how this lovely countertop was made out of 2×3 pieces in a tutorial shared by The Oregon Tale.

Natural wood counter block

It’s natural to have some doubts about being able to pull off a project like this, especially when you don’t really have any experience doing anything similar. It all gets easier to understand once you break the project into sections and you feel confident you can get them done. At the end of the day making a butcher block countertop is one of the easiest projects. Check out this video from DIY Network which shows a homeowner how to build their own maple countertop from scratch and follow the same steps to make one for yourself.

How To Cut, Sand, Install, And Finish A Butcher Block Countertop

Breaking any DIY project into smaller steps always helps to make it simpler and easier to understand. When it comes to something like a butcher block countertops, start by making a list of all the tools and materials needed. Then divide the project into steps. You need to cut the wood to size, to sand it, apply the finish and finally to install the countertop. It’s all described in detail on thegritandpolish.