New Kitchen Island...

Well, it is new to us! We've got a large enough kitchen to house a kitchen island. The kitchen is U-shaped and just BEGS for an island. We've been using a rolling cart that Jon had in his bachelor days and it was fine but had no storage. We need storage. Most of the kitchen islands we see that would work in the kitchen are super expensive and we just don't feel like spending $900 on an island!

We had been talking about making our own. We checked out cabinets at Home Depot and figured out what we would need. We just hadn't broken down to get one and put it together. Well, there is a Habitat for Humanity Restore close to our house. I went there on Saturday and found an island that someone had taken out of their home. It was the perfect size! You can access it from both sides, which is a bonus, and has 2 large drawers. I called Jon and he came and looked at it. It was only $30! Why so cheap? Well, it is missing the 4 doors. We decided to buy it anyway and make it what we wanted. We couldn't beat the price. No matter what it costs to fix it up the way we want, it can't even be CLOSE to what we've priced already.

We went to IKEA and got a butcher block top for the island. It fit perfectly. We bought some handles for our doors and drawers that match our kitchen cabinets. Our next step is to make doors for the island. After that, we will bead board the sides (as one side has a hole for an electrical outlet and we don't need it). Then we will paint it a dark redish/maroon color (leaving the butcher block top natural). It is turning out so nicely and the workspace is perfect for cooking, cleaning, organizing, or whatever! I swear I hear a choir sing each time I walk into the kitchen. It is so nice. Once we get it all done, I'll post a pic of the finished product. This honey-do might have to wait in line behind some of our nursery honey-dos...