If you were stuck on a deserted island....

wouldn't it make life so much more fun? We have lived in our home for 3 1/2 years. This was not our plan. :) We committed to 2 - 3 years upon moving in. After being here for "sooooo long", we are actually falling in love with it. For the first time. Ever. We have never loved a home since we've been married. Maybe it's because our first apartment was only for 7 months. Or maybe because our first home was only for 1 year. And, ironically, this is not the easiest home to live in. We have, according to my husband, "3 blades of grass to our name". It's what the rest of the world would consider a townhouse. We also only have 3 bedrooms. With a family of 5, this causes some problems when four relatives and 3 dogs come to stay for days at a time. Maybe not problems. Just room for creativeness. :) We also have to pay a very hefty amount of $$$ every month that goes towards trash removal, snow removal, mowing, and general up-keep of the playground and common areas. We love love LOVE to entertain, but have no where to put 10 extras vehicles. So, needless to say, there are "issues" with this house. Our two major complaints about living here were: lack of seating in the kitchen/family room, and lack of counter space. Well, thanks to a mother who guts one of her kitchens and lets us haul away her old kitchen island, one of those problems are solved! We have had this "builders grade" kitchen island in our garage for years. It served as an extra work bench for my hubby (because, apparently, the garage is "his" space) as well as storing lots of tools and cans of paint underneath. I came up with the oh-so-brilliant idea of carrying it upstairs, refinishing it, and using it in our kitchen. He was less than thrilled. But seeing as how I'm pretty good at sales, I talked him into it. I am just in love with islands! Ta-da!!!

We painted it the same color as our kitchen cabinets. Then the hubby applied his professional chocolate brown "glaze" (not really. it's just brown paint wiped on/wiped off with an old cut up t-shirt). We also (ha. who am I kidding) installed the new hardware on the drawers and cabinets. Oh look, there's that great craigslist find, again. :) It's not staying there, by the way. I just happened to find a random nail on the wall and hung it up to see how it looked. I would never EVER hang something so haphazardly. :)
Another good use for islands: It sends a much needed "stay out of my way while I'm cooking for you" statement.
Thanks, mom, for giving us the island. Thanks, babe, for helping me to carry it up a full flight of steps, painting the glaze, and installing the hardware. The counter top obviously does not match. It's also pretty scratched up because of the use it got in the garage. The next step will be to just order a new formica slab from Lowes that matches the rest of the kitchen. Now I'm off for a third attempt at becoming friends with my sewing machine. :)