Kitchen Island Set Back

The kitchen island is now painted and I was all ready for the contractor to install the bamboo plywood.





The contractor brought the plywood to his shop and here are just some of the things he found on the wood.






Fabulous. The wood was packaged between 2 large MDF boards so I thought it was safe from getting any kind of damage. Apparently this damaged happened before the wood was packaged. Soooo I requested my money back on the product which the company obliged to. I think the wood has potential and would be a beautiful piece if it wasn't so damaged. I'm hoping to find another use for it.

On to plan B for the counter top. The contractor suggested other wood suppliers in the area where I could get a similar look and the wood would be better quality, thicker, and for about the same price as the bamboo. I decided to go with a black walnut. This week the contractor is scheduled to come in and complete the task.

It seems like I've waited FOR-EVA for this to be done!

Island Progress

The kitchen island is well underway. I removed the drawers and cabinet doors and sanded everything down with my orbital sander and 220 grit sandpaper.



Over the Labor Day weekend I got crackin' with painting the island white.

Day1:
Prime the island and cabinets


I used Kilz primer.



I had to put up a dog barrier so no wagging tails touched the island.



Day 2:
Painted the first coat of paint using Valspar semi-gloss latex paint in a creamy white. I applied the paint using a foam roller and paint brush to get into some of the smaller areas.


Dog barrier was in full effect.





Day3:
Painted a 2nd coat of paint on the cabinets. The paint is still uneven and it looks as though there is a texture to the cabinets so I will lightly sand the island and paint a 3rd coat of paint.






For the table legs I purchased unfinished stair newel posts at Lowes for $25/each. These willl be turned upside down and attached to the countertop to resemble table legs. The posts were primed and painted with 2 coats of paint.



Now all I need is the contractor to cut down the chocolate bamboo to size and install the countertop. I can't wait to see the finished product!!

Island Dreaming

I saw this kitchen island picture on HGTV's Rate My Space, it was love at first sight! The butcher block counter top is AWESOME. I have never seen a dark butcher block counter before. I went on the hunt for one but couldn't seem to find any that matched this picture.






Then came Kirei. I found this site after watching an episode of Carter Can where he uses Kirei board to cover the walls. It looked awesome so I had to Google Kirei and I found their other green building products. Low and behold they just came out with a new product...

Chocolate Bamboo



LOVE IT!

I would like to take my current kitchen island




and extend it out by 30" to provide table seating. It would look something like this lovely island I found at myhomeideas.com



I can't decide whether to paint the island cabinets white or leave them as is. Hmmmmm...