On An Island

This is a story of a simple little project that has taken me months to accomplish. When the kitchen renovation was done we lived happily in the new space.  We loved the finished product but as time wore on we realized that we really did miss my little square butcher block on wheels. It used to sit in the middle of the room before the renovation but it was long gone to some lucky Craigslist shopper. Rats.

I wanted something that doesn’t compete with the cabinets but also doesn’t try to match them.  I did find something on line. It had a marble top. The price was right so I ordered it. It took two weeks to get here. Patience is not one of the virtues that I have spent time to cultivate, yet. When I opened the package the top was broken in two! The “all wood” pieces were so awful and thin.  I packaged it right back up and sent it back. Lesson learned.

We were back at square one.  Mr. suggested we find something we can recycle/upcycle. What!?!?! “Who are you and what did you do with my husband?”, I asked. Of course, I did that as I was grabbing my keys and purse- sprinting for the door! I did not want to give him a chance to question what had just come out of his mouth. A flood of ideas started springing from my brain as we drove. "We could...what if...I want... or we could...". I am beginning to think this why the music is always so loud in our car….. He says it is because his hearing is poor (he does have bad hearing) but I wonder if he isn't trying ignore me......naw!

We stopped at a favorite haunt, Bernat Antiques  and it yielded that piece we were looking for. It was an old dry bar. “We can fix it”, he said. Really? I like this new husband! I don’t know what happened to my old husband but I am sure I will miss him.

Here is the piece we bought. Pretty 1970’s, eh? That was in October.

We took off the top and ordered a piece of granite to match our existing countertops. It came in November. We took the chunky base molding off and replaced it with something a little more slimmed down. ( I hope you are understanding that “we” means “he”.) I also had Mr. put it on casters to move about the room freely.

A frame was made first to attach the new base molding to.

Not pretty construction but it got the job done. We are not furniture makers!

The corners were beefed up to make room for casters.

By the time Christmas had rolled around I had painted it white to match the cabinetry. We cut the doors up and replaced the chunky wood with galvanized metal sheeting. It still is not right, I thought. Still no drawer pulls. Functional, but not right. I was second guessing all my choices. Pinterest was confusing me even more. And, so it sat…….waiting.

I did not take pictures at this stage, really. Not sure what the strange coloring on the side is.??

A trip to another store in March introduced me to a paint product called Maison Blanche. I selected a lovely shade called Confederate Gray and scurried home. After two coats it sat. Functional, flat gray but not right. The paint did go on easy and covered well.

April brought the idea of adding molding. That idea did not come to fruition until May. And finally it was making sense-seven months later.

With chalk and a yard stick measured where I wanted the molding to be.

Mr. cut the molding for me. (And nailed it in place.) I set the nails and filled the holes.

Before painting molding. You can still see my chalk notes.

 Everything need another coat of paint. A coat of Annie Sloan wax and some sweet little drawer pulls from Target and finally finished it off. And now it is "just right"…..for now.

Linkin up:
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