Welcome to what I like to call
THE
LONGEST
PROJECT
IN
THE
HISTORY OF MAN.
OK, a little dramatic, but really. It took forever. Serious.
Serious.
It started two and a half years ago when I took our builder basic kitchen island:
And added some molding and paint:
The sides of the island were made from that crapastic laminate stuff that you need to paint with primer. Which I did not. :)
So last May I removed all the molding and replaced it with beadboard and new chunky baseboards:
The little secret that wasn�t such a secret cause I showed you was that I never painted the cabinet side of the island:
I was soooo sceered! I don�t know why, I just didn�t want to touch them! I love our pretty cabinets, and it gave me hives to think of painting this side.
So they stayed like that. For another year and four months. :) More on that in a bit.
When I started my kitchen redo with the help of American Express and their lovely points (whoohoo!) I mentioned I was considering either painting the island a light cream color or a pretty apple green to go with the new lighter tones of the room. I primed the island to see how I liked the lighter, cream idea and it didn�t look right. So I decided to go with the apple green -- it sounded like such a fun idea!!
(Enter foreboding music here.)
I painted that island apple green, and it was a total and complete disaster. It was one of those where you say you just need time to �get used to it� when you really just need time to stop hyperventilating at all the time you just flushed down the toilet. ;)
It was SO bright! OH. my. goodness., it was screaming apple green. The way the light hit it made it completely obnoxious. So I mixed some black into the green to darken it a bit, and painted�again.
It was better! It was growing on me! And then the evening light hit�and it was a disaster all over again. I played the whole, I�ll get use to it (pleeease?) game some more and realized by about 8 p.m. that it wasn�t going to fly. And I looked at the cabinet side of our island and realized something really important � there was NO way on God�s (apple) green earth that I was going to be able to paint our lovely cabinets that color.
I wish I could express to you how wrong the green island looked in our kitchen. (I took pictures with my phone but I�ve since updated to a new one and they didn�t transfer!) If we lived in a beach house � adorable. In a funky, colorful house, perfect. In our traditional house full of warm colors � just wrong. ;) I�m sure it was the tone of that color I picked out that made it look so goofy, but I wasn�t going to try any more. I was done.
So�guess what? I painted. Again. Oh yeah, and again � two coats back to black. It was not a good day around here. ;)
I wanted to (finally) get this island project wrapped up, so last week I got my booty moving on the butcher block top I bought months ago at Ikea. It had been leaning in the garage, unopened, for all that time. (I told you I was highly unmotivated this summer!)
I did some checking around and found a woodworking company that would be able to cut it down to the right size for me. I had a chance to look around their shop a bit, and when I saw the beautiful routered edges they could add to it, my mind started racing. :)
The owner said they could cut it down and router the edge I picked out for $100 � YES PLEASE! I was SO excited when I picked it up last week because this (Numerar Ikea counter for $195):
Was turned into this:
Be still my thrifty little heart.
I was so excited, I installed it that day. I just unscrewed the screws underneath the previous countertop and pulled it off:
When the new top was laid on top, I just screwed them back in, with a couple extra for good measure.
My original plan was to sand down the block and stain it a very deep stain, then poly over the top of it. YUM. But when I saw it in our kitchen, I realized the potential for a really warm, natural looking butcher block instead.
Ikea treats their wood, but you need to do more when you get them installed. I started by sanding it down very lightly, then I did three coats of boiled linseed oil:
You just wipe it on with a white cloth and watch the magic happen. ;) We are not going to use the butcher block as a cutting surface, but linseed oil is perfect if you are planning to do so. It is food safe once it dries.
Because I didn�t want to freak out every time someone put a glass on the island, I also protected it with two coats of tung oil:
From what my Dad told me, the Chinese have used tung oil for about 600 years (give or take a few) on their boat hulls � and if it works for them, it works for me. :)
It gave it an absolutely gorgeous amber finish:
It is just beautiful. And no worries about the everyday stuff that happens in a kitchen!:
If there�s ever any damage to the top, it will be easy to sand it down lightly and reapply the oil. I will probably do a few more coats of the tung oil for an extra strong finish.
To finish off the beadboard, I installed some very thin molding around the top:
The top edges of the beadboad weren�t uneven, but it always looked a little unfinished to me.
I found a fabric I lurve at Calico Corners for the chairs:
I upholstered right over the old fabric that I showed you here. I love the slightly contemporary look of the fabric combined with the more traditional island.
And I was (almost) done! THEN, I finally painted the cabinets on the other side of the island. And all was right with the world. Two years and four months later. Good grief.
I present to you our completed, never touching it ever again for as long as I live, island:
I did a photo shoot with it from all angles, Austin Powers style�yeah, baby�YEAH!:
I want to curl up and take a nap on it, I love it so very much. Really. Night night:
Because I�m a sucker for before and after shots, here�s the before, a couple of years ago:
And today:
The I�m shaking in my boots to paint the cabinets before:
And the why didn�t I do this two years ago after:
Total breakdown for the transformation was as follows (over the past two years):
- About $50 for the beadboard, I think? Another $20 or so for the baseboards and skinny trim around the top.
- $10 for black paint. Lasted all eleventy billion times I painted it.
- $18 for two corbels from Home Depot.
- Chairs were from Garden Ridge, buy one get one half off � about $100.
- Less than $10 in fabric to cover the chairs.
- $195 for butcher block (I had to get a larger size) from Ikea � looks like it�s even less now!
- $100 to have the block cut and routered.
- About $20 for oils, foam brushes, etc. (I had some, had to buy some.)
Oh yeah, did I mention I got a quote of $1,300 for a very similar butcher block countertop from the company Home Depot uses? I saved one thousand buckaroos and it looks pretty darn good! I am SO happy with it, and it was so (grumble) worth (grumble) all the work!
P.S. I�ll show you how I painted the cabinets soon � and what I did that you should NOT. :)
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