How A Home Depot Workbench Can Solve Your Kitchen Island Woes

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A kitchen island is great when you need an extra workspace with more storage, but installing one can quickly eat up your time and money. If you want a more affordable and flexible option, why not head to Home Depot and get yourself a rolling workbench instead?

Similar to another kitchen island alternative, the cook's table, workbenches combine great counter space with movability to give you a flexible prep area. However, unlike a cook's table, workbenches come with sturdy, built-in drawers perfect for stashing utensils and spices. While each compartment may not be quite as large as those installed directly into a traditional island, workbench drawers are designed to fit a huge number of tools that can lay flat, freeing up your other storage compartments for larger items. Plus, a workbench provides an easy solution if you ever decide you need two kitchen islands, since they take up a minimal amount of space that you can always free up by rolling them out of the room.

These workbenches come in a range of sizes, colors, and brands, costing anywhere between $350 to $1,200, if you need something huge with serious storage capabilities. Their metal bodies and wood tops are built for heavy-duty tool use, so you won't have to worry about easily damaging or spending too much time cleaning them. Still, you won't be able to steal certain kitchen island trends, like two-tiered work spaces or rounding edges, so this certainly isn't a one-size-fits-all solution.

While you can't mix and match counter top materials or wood designs, workbench islands are easy to paint and come in a wide enough variety that you're sure to find something that suits your kitchen. Plus, some of the limitations that come with workbench islands are manageable with a little extra effort.

If you have wood floors, hard plastic wheels under a lot of weight can easily scuff them. While you can always lay down some area rugs or runners when moving your workbench island, you might be better off purchasing one that has rubber wheels instead. Regular cleaning helps as well, since wheel casters can pick up hard debris and scratch surfaces. It may also help to remove heavier items from the workbench drawers beforehand, or even remove the drawers entirely, making it lighter and less likely to dig into more delicate flooring materials.

Some workbenches come with built-in power strips, further increasing their value as a kitchen fixture. However, if you regularly move your workbench, you won't want to plug in anything too heavy, like an air fryer or a blender. Instead, emulsifier wands and coffee grinders are easier to move and stow away when not in use. If there isn't a power outlet near where you'd like the workbench to be, and you don't want to constantly trip over a cord, cord covers – like these from Lzeoy — are affordable online. Plus, they come in a range of colors, letting them blend in to your wood's pattern and texture.