Finished Island & Kitchen Upgrades

I've had a handful of requests to finally see the finished island. We started it forever ago, I think last November? And true to DIY form it took longer than expected. However, I am so proud of Russ. He built this thing from scratch. Neither of us knew what we were doing, but he kind of just learned as he went. The paint color was also a decision, not surprisingly. At first I painted it a beautiful blue-green color that tied in with my wallpaper, but with my dark cabinets and everything else, it just wasn't working. So I decided to embrace the contrasting cabinet look and painted it the same white as our trim (Sherwin Williams Milk White).

 It's been in it's current state since the spring. We have been at a standstill because we still need to add "fake drawers" on the cabinet side. We went to Ikea to buy two handle bars to match the rest of the kitchen, and wouldn't you know it? They no longer make that style. AWESOME. So, the island is still missing fake drawers, but I figured you guys could look past that, right?! :)

And here's the side where all the cereal-in-the-morning magic happens. Since having our island I've realized how much I missed it! The extra storage space and working space is nice, but we also love just pulling up the stool for a quick bite to eat. You can find those stools on Overstock.com, but for all of you Utah folk, you need to go by the Overstock Outlet. It's a total hit-or-miss place, but when you "hit" you really hit! We found these stools for $16 TOTAL. Yes, $8 a stool. SCORE! They've been great. Easy to clean and easy to move around and stack.

The butcher block counter top has been one of my favorite aspects of the island. Butcher block can be really expensive, but Ikea saved the day once again. We bought Numerar counter top and trimmed it to size.  We first applied a pre-stain by Minwax, and then stained it "Dark Walnut" by Minwax. We finished the job with a few coats of Polycrylic to give it the nice, shiny finish. 

One of the major upgrades we sprung for was finally getting a new oven. Whoever built our house put in the cheapest, crappiest electric coil stove-top oven EVER. I hated it from the day we moved in. We had thought about wiring in gas so we could get a gas stove, but soon realized it was going to be either really expensive or really dangerous for Russ to attempt messing around with gas lines. :) So we opted for this great LG double oven. The two different ovens have really been a life-saver. I would highly recommend it!

The final major upgrade we made was a new table and chairs. Once we had built the island, our table really wasn't working. (You can see it here) It was black, which wasn't working with the wood tones of the island, and it was a counter-height table which was awkward as it was the same height as our new island. There needed to be more dimension. We sold it on KSL and bought a new table for less than we sold it and the matching chairs for! Can't complain.

We found the grey-tufted dining chairs at World Market for about half the cost. Finding deals makes me happy.

Russ made the bench from scrap wood he found around the neighborhood (there is still new construction going on, so Russ finds joy in a little dumpster diving).

And finally, the Overstock outlet I mentioned above pulled through again. We found 4 tabouret chairs for less than $40 total! I'm still looking for the perfect chair pads, but until I find them these outdoor pads from Ikea have done the trick. 

 And finally, no more boob lights!!!! I'm not sure if you understand how happy this makes me. We found a great deal on some LED recessed lights at Home Depot. After sending in a rebate and selling our old fixtures, they came to about $10 each. You can see in the picture below from a few years ago, we had way too many boobs to handle. Thank goodness this situation has been remedied. (You can also see another picture of our old table). The only one left is in the living room -- still hunting for the perfect replacement.

....  and now, such a clean ceiling. My happy place. 

So I think our kitchen is a million steps closer to being a kitchen I love. Now only if I could convince Russ that white cabinets and wood floors are essential... They are, right? :)