Island

And by island, I do not mean the exotic type with sun, sand, and palm trees in the middle of a pristine blue ocean somewhere. Unfortunately.

I'm afraid that I mean the type of island that you can only now find in my kitchen. (Talk about a letdown!)

When we built our house, our original plans had an island that I didn't really love. So we took it completely out of the plans and Kevin promised he'd build me a new one. Now this is me, upholding him to that promise almost 2 1/2 years later. I personally like my version way better. I love that it's not just "builder grade." I looked around for ideas on Pinterest for months and finally came up with an idea of how I wanted it to look. I think Kevin thought it was all a little weird at first since it's the total opposite of our existing cabinets. But now that it's finished, I think it's safe to say that I was inspired. :)

Here are a couple of "before" pictures:

All uglied up with primer and wood filler. Also, speaking of ugly - or maybe just messy - you can also get a good shot of the kitchen mess I lived in for weeks. It was...fun?

Kevin working on sanding down the counter top (which is butcher block from Ikea...an awesome deal).

And finally, the finished product! The bar stools are ones we've had since our wedding, so they'll eventually be replaced, and there are still no handles on the front, but it's close enough for pictures.

A closer-up shot of the bead board AND board and batten (two different things, I swear). I'm in love with the texture!

I love it and I really, really, really love the extra counter space. Check one more DIY project off the list!

And here's Sadie, in a totally unrelated, but very Sadie-like pose for the camera.

(No, that's not dirt on her forehead - it's a nasty bruise from falling out of bed- ouch!)