Kitchen island, take 2

This was our first try at a kitchen island.  It replaced a higher half wall with a higher laminate table that jutted out into the kitchen.  So we my dad cut the wall down and attached a plywood top (very well, with lots and lots of screws) which he then tiled.  It was a massive improvement and served us very well for many years. 

Buuuuuut then I got all kinds of ideas about my perfect kitchen island and I convinced myself that I needed to change things up.  For one thing, we had a ton of empty space in our kitchen between the fridge and the island.  It was wasted space and I knew it could be used better.  Plus, I needed some more storage and drawers so it just made sense to enlarge the island top and incorporate some cabinets.  Also, a friend of my parents' gave us a wine fridge and why not throw that in the mix, too?

So, my dear parents loaded up their car with tools and a cabinet and wood and headed down to help us revamp our kitchen island.

First, the trim and old island top had to come off.  The only way to get it off without destroying the half wall was to cut through all those screws holding it on.  This was the tough part.

The night before, we prepped the butcher block top.  I could not find any that were in the exact size I needed (about 4'X5') or even close to it.  So I ended up ordering 2 25"X8' tops from Menards.  They were delivered free to the store and we picked them up and brought them home.  Unfortunately, there was a bit of a bevel to them so we could not just slap them together.  My dad had to cut about an inch off one and plane it.  He decided just to plane one edge of the other one because we did not have a table saw at our house and it is really hard to cut a super straight line with a circular saw.  Once that was done, he used biscuits and glue to join them.  I don't have a pic of this process, but he actually put 2 biscuits instead of 1 about every foot or so.  Then we used some giant clamps from my uncle to clamp them together overnight.  We did have to use a bit of wood putty to fill any gaps between the two slabs.

The next day, my dad cut it to the length I wanted, just over 5', sanded it and routed the edges so there was no sharp edges.

Back inside, we had the half wall.  We added a 36" cabinet unit that my parents removed from a rental property.  They primed it and removed the doors and drawer fronts in anticipation of paint and hardware.  Then, I had the cutest little wine fridge I wanted to incorporate so my dad built a base to put it on so it was raised up to the level of the bottom of the cabinets.  He also had to build a few structures to place between the cabinet and the half wall as we were going to have some empty space there.  Sorry but I don't have a very good pic of that.

The wine fridge was black but I spray painted the black area on the face of the fridge silver to match our other stainless appliances.

Once the frame was in place, it was time to secure the butcher block to the base with screws from the bottom of the cabinet and through the 2X4 that was the frame for a wall next to where the wine fridge would be.

Then, we added some 1X4 base trim and some 7" planking with 1/4" sanded plywood.

In addition, we removed the trim around the opening between the kitchen and the dining room and replaced it with 1X6 painted boards.  It went a LONG way to completely updating the space and it the first step in pushing me to changing all my trim to white painted 1X4 boards.

Once all the wood and new light was installed, my parents left and I painted the planking and trim with Behr Pure White.  The next day, I attached the hardware to the drawer fronts and cabinet doors and attached them to the cabinet base unit.

Then I cleaned up the mess off the top.

 This was before I oiled the top.  I had to use a ton of oil.  Almost a whole bottle.

Then I stood back and admired...

 One drawer is my tool drawer, the other is for loose papers.  The cabinet houses our printer/copier machine, along with paper, crayons, writing sets for the kids and kinetic sand bucket (which I had NO IDEA where to put previously).

 The light was free from my parents, who had it laying around.  It was white and they spray painted it silver and added a light kit.

I wanted to make the island look like a piece of furniture, not like there was a half wall there.  That is why I choose to use planking around 3 sides of it.

One last comparison...

I scoured Pinterest for ideas for my kitchen island and in the end, it was almost too overwhelming as the options were endless.  It came to me deciding what I needed the island to do for me and then picking the materials that made the most sense.  The only money I spent was on the butcher block, planks, boards for trim, cup pulls for the drawers and spray paint.  I got the light, cabinet and wine fridge for free.  I already had the paint on hand as well as the cabinet door pulls.  My parents supplied the labor, light kit and brought some planks as well, along with screws and nails (Thanks Mom and Dad!!).  My uncle let us borrow the clamps and the device that makes the biscuit holes and even sent me some oil for the butcher block (Thanks Uncle Steve!!).  It changed the look of the entire kitchen and it turned out even better than I thought!

Linking up to

Fireplace wall update

My first big project of the year is about done!  Which is NOT any easy thing to accomplish between momming, wifing, working and co-running Craftshop.  Some days I can barely make it into my bed before I am already falling asleep.  So why bother doing any house projects?  Well, why does anyone do anything?  Because they want/like to do it.  I love making my house comfortable and pretty!  And I actually do enjoy the whole process, from the idea phase to the planning phase to the implementing phase to the finishing and enjoying phase.  Now, many of my "projects" don't make it past the ideas or planning phases but I still enjoy that as well.  But every once in a while, it is nice to have someone else step in and help get the project done faster.  I thought I would be doing this wall myself but help came in the form of my dad, and the hubs and son jumped in to assist and before I knew it, it was done and I just had to do the painting!  

Here is what it looked like before...

 And here is what it looks like now...

 Makes a difference, right?  Here are some pics from the construction phase.  I gave my dad a drawing with measurements and he cut all the wood and brought it to my house to construct.

Putting together the frame with lots of "helpers";)

My dad cut the trim where the frame was going to go so the frame would be flat against the wall.  I then had to take the lights down.

And the frame was placed on the wall and screwed in.

Then the planks were nailed in.

 #putthementowork

And then the edge trim was nailed on and I applied 2 coats of paint.  I still may add some trim/moulding at the top but that is for another day.

I also added a set of shelves to the other side of my buffet because I loved the ones on the right so much.

Seriously the easiest project ever and adds so much to the room.

Stuff

Did you ever get some news about someone that was so horrible you just wanted to purge it out of your mind so you didn't have to think about it and its affects every waking minute?  Maybe unload the information onto other people so they could help carry the burden for you?  I am sure everyone has.  As I get older, I seem to be collecting more of these moments and it just plain sucks.  I know that life will continue to have ugly, gut-wrenching moments because that is the rule, not the exception.   I know that we don't get to pick and chose the people to which these moments occur and I wouldn't want to do that anyway.  I know there are no exemptions.

I haven't done much craft projects lately but when I get ugly news, I am compelled to busy myself making something pretty.  Obviously it won't fix or change anything other than distracting me and that is ok.

A special little lady is turning 4 tomorrow and it was the perfect opportunity to DIY one of those adorable fabric take along dollhouses.  I used this tutorial.  It has pictures of all the steps, which I failed to do and usually fail to do because I am typically in such a hurry I can't stop to bother to photo document the process.

Basically, you cut some pieces out of some plastic cross stitch sheets for the house sides, bottom and roof.  Then you wrap them all with quilt batting and I used duct tape to secure the batting.

Then you layout your fabric after you have sewed your roof material to your house material for the outside.  Place your pieces over that piece of fabric which should be place "right side in."

Then you will need place your fabric for the inside of the house and "garden" over the top "right side in."  It is during this step that you include the sides of the house as well (see linked post above for diagrams and much better explanations).  Sorry, no pic for this step:(  Pin down the long sides and one of the short sides.  Make sure to add some elastic loops for closing the house up (I used elastic hair ties) and rope, ribbon or fabric for handles during this step (I used rope).  Remove the pieces and sew the pinned sides.  Turn "right side out" and place your pieces inside.  Pin along the pieces and then sew the pinned lines so the pieces are each in their own compartment.  Sew up the last short side.  Once that is done, you can fold up the house and hand stitch the sides to the back of the house that does not have the garden. Add buttons for closure and embellish with fabric or felt.

DIY fabric take along dollhouse:

These are so adorable.  I enjoyed just having this sitting on my dining room table the past week.  I am about halfway done with Sully and Sydney's houses for Christmas.  Options for what to put in and use with the houses include Polly Pockets, Disney princess palace pets, animals (if you chose to make a barn) or cars (if you chose to make a garage).  Now to pack up this house for the birthday girl!

Open Shelving

Hey all!  Hope you had a great (and safe) 4th of July yesterday!  I am making some more changes in my dining room.

Previously, I had showed you some pics of the table and new room rearrangement.

This pic shows the back wall where I was not done making changes.  You can see the big coffee sack framed to the upper right.  I decided to take that down and put some open shelving up.  Open shelving is red hot and trending right now.  It is not always the best thing to jump on what is trending but I decided to go for it.  That area has always been a challenge for me for some reason.  Maybe it has something to do with the kid kitchen that lives just below it.  Or not.

Anyway, I picked up some small wooden corbels at Home Depot and painted them white.

Then I hung them on the wall.

Then I bought a pine board and had the Home Depot guy cut it down to give me 2 30" boards.  I stained them with my favorite stain mixture, 75% Minwax classic grey and 25% Minwax dark walnut.  I placed them centered over the corbels, predrilled some holed and screwed the boards to the corbels.  Done.  Then came the hard part, decorating/staging the shelves...

 I used all stuff I had on hand already, meat grinders, basket, baking ware, sifter, scale I got from an antiques mall, bird houses and the Craftshop orb.

Oh, and I got some chairs that I am in the process of painting white with chalk paint.  I have one coat on and I.just.can't.paint.them.again.right.now.  So that is how they will live for a bit.

Stay tuned for more changes to this wall!