We are excited to announce the winners of the 2022 DIY Butcher Block Awards! The projects that were entered ranged from full kitchen renovations or brand new kitchen builds to desks, benches in coat rooms, countertops in pantries and laundry rooms, dining tables, outdoor kitchens and built-in entertainment centers. All of them take a unique approach that’s perfect for their home and feature hardwood butcher block.
It’s amazing to see everything come together and we applaud everyone who completed their project this year! We hope you’ll find their finished work an inspiration to start your own.
Now to congratulate our Winners as voted on by fans, customers, staff, and butcher block lovers alike.
CHAMPION
DIY BUTCHER BLOCK PROJECT
DIY Coffee Table Project by Rachel
PRODUCT USED: Birch
FINISH DETAILS:
I sanded my butcher block starting with 120 grit, ending at 320. I stained it using two coats of Varathane Dark Walnut, wiping it off completely each time. After the stain was dry, I finished the table with 6 coats of Minwax Satin Poly. Between each coat, I sanded the table, starting with 220-320 for the first couple coats, then ending with 320-550 wet/dry sandpaper for the last few coats.
PROJECT COMMENTS:
I created a custom coffee table with hidden storage using the Hardwood Reflections Birch Butcher Block and some fluted cabinet door panels.
RESERVE CHAMPION
DIY BUTCHER BLOCK PROJECT
Home Bar by Dagar
PRODUCT USED: Live edge acacia and finger-joint acacia
FINISH DETAILS:
Finished included in 2 different areas
1) counter next to the wall: This is Acacia Butcher Block finished with 4 rounds of sanding 120,200,320, and 600 and finishing with clear Watco Danish oil and finally sealing it with Varathane water based poly
2) island: it was prefinished but had some shipping damages. I sanded it down using 320 grit and filled it with wood filler and using Watco spray clear semi gloss lacquer to spray 6-8 light coats to get an even buildup. it totally merged with original finish.
PROJECT COMMENTS:
I built bar in my basement and idea was to create a gathering space with enough people to sit and counters and shelves to store stuff. Wanted to put shelving to show off my liquor collection. It had two sections.
1) First is the wet counter next to the wall at 36″ height
For counter, I got the cabinets from store and assembled them and wanted to put live edge acacia on the counter, but it was not available at the time in Chicago Suburbs. After waiting for few weeks decided to go with unfinished acacia butcher block. I cut it to length (apprx 7′) and sanded it four times using 120,200,320, and 600 grit using ROS and then cut the hole for drop-in sink using Jig saw. I tested the finishes on leftover and decided to apply 4 coats of Watco Danish oil. Acacia popped beautiful color. To further protect it from water and alcohol, I put 4 coats of water based poly. I had messed up one coat where I used almost dried brush using poly and that caused steak marks. I had to sand it down and reapply two coats.. 🙂
2) Island in the center at 42″ height
I did 6-10 light spray coats of watch clear lacquer. For the base of Island, after some 3d designs in tinkercad, I decided to go with building the frame using 4×4 and 2×4 and using drywall to cover it. Caster wheels were placed to make it easy to move. The live edge acacia was placed after painting the bottom of island.
This project took 4 months, a lot of elbow grease, learning new tools and techniques, buy new tools and ultimately resulted in 100% satisfaction.
RUNNER- UP
DIY BUTCHER BLOCK CHAMPION
Kitchen Renovation by Shannon
PRODUCT USED: Birch
FINISH DETAILS:
The tops actually were quite smooth already, we eased the edge with an orbital sander, ran over the tops and edges just a little and then finished with Tung Oil.
COMMENTS:
The waterfall was exciting to do, we had never done countertops before and I set the bar for expectations pretty high. It went much smoother than I expected. I wanted something warm, practical and natural to contrast the white painted finishes and the quartz island.
2022 DIY Butcher Block Awards Finalists
