Butcher block in the kitchen

Hello all, hope your weekend was great!! Oh my goodness – we had a blast at the mud run. It was SO intense though – it had rained five days up to it so the course was 95 percent mud up to your mid-calf. It was insane. Many of the ladies lost shoes and socks and it took us almost two hours to get through the three mile course…but we did it. :)

So Sunday I was pretty much toast. I laid on the couch most of the day but did get a small DIY project done. We’ve had our butcher block counter on the island for nearly four years now and it’s held up GREAT. I don’t know if I’ve shared this process before, but it never hurts to show it again since I know there are a lot of questions about butcher in the kitchen.

First up, I have to say I LOVE having the wood on the island. It did worry me a bit at first – the first few weeks I was extra careful with it. Now? I put anything on it. I’m finding I love it more with the little cuts and dings. It’s incredibly easy to keep up. I rarely have any stains or issues – I think there’s only two times that I’ve had a mark on it and both times were from paint cans:

I left a small can on there for a few days and it left that mark. But I’ve had juice, wine…anything else you can think of on there and it wipes right off. I’ll share why in a minute, but first my process for dealing with any marks.

This only takes me a few minutes because it’s just the island and the wood is not stained. I used a 220 grit sandpaper:

And my favorite sander:

I love this sander for two reasons – it keeps most of the dust in the little container (last time I did this with another sander the kitchen was covered in a layer of dust). And it doesn’t leave the little swirl sanding marks that others I’ve tried did. If I don’t sand properly it still does it occasionally, but nothing like I’ve had in the past! If I take my time and do it right I never get them. :)

Again, this just took me a few minutes -- I wiped it down after with a wet towel after sanding and then let it dry well.

I use Formby’s Tung Oil to seal up the wood (on recommendation from my Dad):

It has worked incredibly well! I usually reoil about once a year – if that. And I don’t always sand it down first (I only did this time because of that paint can mark). Usually I just clean the top and then apply one or two more coats.

It takes a couple minutes to apply – just use a clean white rag (with gloves on) and wipe it in:

  

It needs to dry 12 hours and they say to buff with fine steel wool and then do another coat. I kind of cheat – I don’t sand it down again, I just put another coat on. :)

I did the first yesterday evening before we left for a movie, I’ll do another coat tonight before bed:

I wasn’t sure I’d like the more natural finish all those years ago, but now I LOVE it. It helps to lighten things up with our dark cabinets.

Butcher block for a kitchen island can get really pricey! I got mine from IKEA for less than $200 but I’ve heard they don’t sell this size anymore? That would be a major bummer because I’m always thrilled with their butcher and this is a fantastic option.

I had a local woodworking place router the pretty edge on there for an added detail:

I have zero complaints when it comes to this countertop – there is a little bit of maintenance but it’s maybe once a year that you need to oil it up again. It’s probably been longer than that since I last did it.

If you have them stained then the care will be different. I’ve seen Waterlox used a lot on stained counters but Tung oil may be fine over stain as well. I used a poly over my stained butcher block in the dining room and mud room but those get very little wear and tear. If you like the natural look this oil is great option to seal up counters from stains and liquids and it’s incredibly easy to apply.

Do you love the look of butcher block counters? Could you have them throughout your whole kitchen? I’m considering it!