Island Completed! and Kitchen Tour

If you remember, a while back I mentioned a big project that I was working on. 

It took much longer than I first thought and was much harder. But isn't that the way most things go?

Anyhow, it's done and I'm so happy - and relieved.

It started out as an old buffet. I got the idea from Home and Harmony. I loved everything about their island.

I found this buffet for $80 and I think all said and done the total was about $235.00.

And a lot of that was paint and the finish that I used on the top.

The back was unfinished and we had to replace it and buy new base board because it didn't wrap around  the back. 

If I were doing it again, I would make sure that the back was finished.

My husband had to cut new corner pieces to cover the raw edges and this took a lot of time and trouble!

After sitting in the above condition for several weeks while my shoulder was mending, and the children were going through several rounds of strep throat and similar sicknesses, I finally got it done!

The butcher block top came from a work table that my husband had in his shop. He graciously sacrificed it, wasn't that sweet? We sanded it down and used Waterlox on it.

The glass knobs came from Lowes. I sprayed the center bolts with antique bronze paint, they were a polished chrome. I wanted them to match the door hardware.

I made the corbels by tracing the pattern from and old porch corbel that I had. I cut them on a scroll saw, which, by the way, is a lot of fun to use. Then they took some sanding and my husband carefully screwed them in from inside the island so that I didn't have to fill any screw holes.

Have I mentioned that he is very handy? I love him!

Oh, did you notice my chandelier?

I found it on Craigslist. Happy! Happy! Happy!

 Then I decided it was too much for my kitchen.

And next I decided to throw caution to the wind and live recklessly.

After all it brings such joy and sparkle to my kitchen.

And sometimes, I need all the sparkle I can get.

So, after watching a few how to videos and getting free advice from my dear husband, I hung it. All by myself!

I think every woman should learn how to wire and hang a light fixture, it's very empowering.

Here is my kitchen, all cleaned up for pictures.

I'm so happy with it. It has come together so nicely!

 See the above picture? The wall space on either side of the window will someday be open shelves. I plan to use the same corbel design for the shelf brackets.

This is on the opposite wall from the sink, our computer area. Trust me, it's not this clean now.

And here is our dinning room table with a little guy that was too busy playing to get out of the way.

The hutch in the background belonged to my grandparents.

So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed the tour!