In our Florida house we had tile floors that I mopped and Sharked regularly. In time I noticed that the wood on the back of our kitchen island began to bubble near the floor.

I went to Lowe’s with a photo to price replacing that wood panel. It was well over $100 to replace it with the same product and I feared it would warp again.

I opted to use wainscoting on the island instead. Why? It was thicker, less expensive and added some architectural interest which was something lacking in the house. I bought enough to cover the defective back panel and 2 side panels for a cohesive look.

I carefully removed the baseboard, curbed trim on the corners and removed the warped board. Replaced it with the thicker wainscoting board on the back, used the wainscoting on top of the prior wood on the sides and then reattached corner pieces with liquid nails.

Primed it and painted it in Garden Spot- the color of my front door. I love when kitchen islands are painted another color so the island stands alone as a separate piece.

Later I got bored and decided to distress the green so some of the white cane through. Freshened it up for me for a while.

Over the years the island was oak, Garden Spot green then white again!

It took a few coats of primer to cover the Garden Spot Green. When I painted all of the cabinetry I decided to have a color reset and painted the island the same as the cabinet colors. Figured when I got bored again I’d repaint the island. But….we sold the house!

The good news—the wainscoting held up perfectly!!! If you have warped panels or just want to add some interest try wainscoting or shiplap.