Ha! Dan makes it all sound so smooth and simple, right? Look, we bought a house with this kitchen, and then voila! presto-chango, we had this fabulous kitchen! Not so fast, mister. How about the months – that’s right folks, months – that we cooked and washed dishes in the 5×8 hall bath (which was not so pretty at the time)? And the hours I spent obsessing over paint colors? Yes – the walls are this, the cabinets are that – but do you know how many colors are pinned on my Pinterest board prior to decision day? Here’s a sampling:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/133982157634174650/
from “A Life’s Design”
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/133982157634174657/
From Lake Jane.com
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/133982157634174628/
From Paloma81blogspot.com
And the island – I went through quite a few options before Bob the builder (truly, that was the name of our cabinet maker) stepped in and saved me:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/133982157633793971/
Found on lh6.ggpht.com
I found a similar one on Etsy, but it was going to cost two years’ vacation budgets (sad face)
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/133982157634174640/
Vintage table option – a bit low to be really useful as an island. (Found on House Beautiful)
I really love this one- it was the inspiration for the one Bob built for us and I will probably use it again in some future house….
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/133982157634476781/
Found on marthastewart.com
Off the shelf option – far too small. (From wayfair.com)
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/133982157635699208/
And some of the things in that much loved kitchen were not actually what we chose. The cabinets, for example. We were on vacation (in Belgium- highly recommend!) and the contractor called to say he was going to have to send our cabinets back – wait, what?? We’d been anxiously awaiting the arrival of those cabinets – bathroom cooking, remember.
Evidently, my order had been transposed and the doors that I wanted for the coffee bar (raised panel) had been made for the main kitchen, while the kitchen doors (shaker-ish) had been made for the coffee bar. They would not install (who can blame them?) until I actually saw them in person and approved. I love Bob the builder and really did not want him to have to eat the cost of remaking the cabinets, so it was a happy day all around when it turned out that I liked the accident better than what I originally intended!