How To Build Burner Covers and Double the Counter Space in Your Tiny Kitchen

February 20, 2018

When pressed for space, we already use the stovetop as an impromptu counter. It seemed only natural to convert this space into something usable. If you have a tiny kitchen and covet just a little more counter space, then come along with us as we show you how we created our cozy burner covers.

(Image credit: Corelyn Coates & Jennie Palluzzi )

I’ve seen burner covers in other people’s homes (presumably to keep people from burning themselves and also to keep their stoves looking pretty), but I knew that I wanted to make them for our stove — and make them functional.So I enlisted our GMS engineers, Jeff and Corelyn, to build a raised cutting board that can be left on the stove (either two burners or all four) as a surface to prep recipes, chop vegetables, set up a photograph for the blog, or just to cover the always-hot burners (because of the pilot lights on our stove.)

You can do something similiar in your kitchen, even if it is a decent size, to give yourself a little more room to work. Or if you’re in a tiny kitchen like me, this might double your workspace and even allow you some room for a sous chef – something that everyone can appreciate!

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How To Make Burner Covers

Makes 2

What You Need

Supplies

2 cutting boards that will fit your stove
1 1-inch thick dowel, at least 12 inches long
8 2-inch long screws, 1/8 inch thick
Self adhesive slides
Twine
80 grit sandpaper or lower
Super glue
Wood glue

Equipment

Hammer
Saw
Screwdriver
Wood drill
Wood drill bit 3/32
Measuring tape
Level

Instructions

Measure your stovetop to find two cutting boards that will completely cover the top of your stove. We found ours online. Make sure they’re thick enough to drill through — ours were about 1 1/2-inches thick.
Measure the height of the stove burners themselves, and add a little headroom, to judge how long to cut your dowels. We want the boards to sit well above the burners, so we measured the dowels into 1 1/2-inch tall pieces. This means that the cutting board will clear the top of the burner. Saw the dowel into cutting board legs, and then sand down each leg to be the same height to ensure that your cutting boards will be level.
Using a pencil, mark where you would want the screws to be drilled into your cutting board. Drill holes partially or half way through your cutting boards at spots marked for each of the four legs.
In order to know which drill bit to use, hold up your screw to your drill bit — you should be able to see the threads on both sides of the drill bit. In our case we used a 3/32 drill bit and a 1/8th inch screw.
Drill a hole through the center of each dowel leg as well. Be sure to line up the drill with the dowel so as to avoid cutting at an angle. The entry and exit holes on the dowel should appear in the center of the dowel.
Now you are ready to assemble: screw your leg to your cutting board, taking care to coat the bottom of the leg that will connect with the cutting board with wood glue. Repeat with each leg.
Hammer and super glue your self adhesive plastic or rubber feet into the bottom of each leg, to protect your stovetop. After allowing to dry roughly an hour, cover the legs of the burner covers with twine — for added color, feel free to use colored twine! Superglue one end of the twine to the leg, then wrap tightly, supergluing the other end when you arrive at the top of the leg. Let dry (only needs about a minute for each superglue application) and repeat with all the legs.
Your burner covers are ready for use! Wash the top with warm water and soap, then place on the stove and you’re ready to have a whole new surface in your tiny kitchen.