Our Beloved Kitchen Island

As I mention in this post, I have always wanted a kitchen island. I told Dane when we were dating I have dreams of having the kids come home from school, sit at the island, and eat warm chocolate chip cookies while telling me all about their day. Anyone else dream about that??

This house didn't have an island. But it had the potential to have an island. It had a huge space smack in the middle of the kitchen perfect for an island. When we found the gold mine in my grandpa's basement (a whole kitchen cabinet set), I knew we needed to use a piece for an island. The best fitting piece ended up not being a rectangle and I was okay with that. All it needed was an overhang for some stools for the kids to sit at after school.... :)

We brought it home, Dane built it up a little higher, we stained it the same color as the rest of the cabinets, and added leftover beadboard and baseboard around the sides and front. Or is it the back? The flat side. :)

Dane nailed it to the floor using a concrete nailer. It was loud. Really loud. But it doesn't budge! (Let's be honest, that thing is so heavy, it wasn't moving anyway.)

We had a few connections at Express Cabinets so we used them for the granite top. They sent us to their yard with all of the leftover pieces. We picked the one we loved after looking at SO many choices. They came and measured the space, cut it, and installed it. We are SO happy with our choice.

This is my favorite space in our kitchen now. I love prepping food here. Especially prepping dinner while the kids nap and I watch Ellen. It looks straight into the family room, so it's perfect!! It adds more storage with the two deep cabinets, and it makes our kitchen feel more like a kitchen!

We had 3 barstools from our last place that we brought with us. They were originally black from a counter height table I had when I was single. Then we painted them white for our counter in the townhouse. Then I painted them to match the painted pantry door. They fit perfectly! (And yes, there are only two. The third one is in our master bathroom for me to sit at the counter when I get ready...there will be another post about that room when it's finished getting a makeover.)

And I may or may not get giddy when my 2 1/2 year old, Brooklyn, asks to eat at the island. She's still a little small for it, but it makes me happy when she tries!

Here is the side by side. We love our island!