Island all its own

Once upon a time we had an island. 

We really liked our old island. It started off a natural oak color and we refinished/repainted it the summer I was pregnant with Luke. Although old faithful really saw us through a lot (a wedding, move, and baby), we thought it was time we get something that looked more              permanent (for lack of a better word). We didn't like how the casters looked (it made it look like a quick fix) and at one point we took them off, but Josh complained how low the counter was (it didn't bother me because I'm short).

This was a before (taken from the website- horrible picture!)

and after we painted/stained it:

We have sort of been keeping our eye on them on a off whenever we are out and about. We frequently checked Lowes and we perused them at Read Deals the last time we were there. But we just never found one that we love- and that had the right price tag. (we bought our original one for $119). 

This one is beautiful- 

but for $959 we passed. 

and this was cute:

but the $419 price tag still stung a little. 

I have been shocked to see some of the furniture that Big Lots has. I'm not sure why, but it kind of caught me off guard that they have furniture. So insert this e-mail that we received: 

Love at first sight. It was everything we wanted. Larger island with more storage. Granite top. Oh did I mention BLACK granite top? (we have a black sink and black appliances). So it was love. And we loved the price. Since it was only $130 more than the original one we bought 5 years ago!

We planned a trip to Seneca that day, but because we've been burned before with online deals/stores not having items in stock we decided to call to double check that that particular island was in stock. They gave us the go ahead, and we made our way. 

Only to find THIS: 

So I very kindly told the gentleman in the furniture department that we did not drive 30 miles with gas at $4 a gallon (whyyyy is gas so expensive right now??) only to have the wrong "normal" price on the item. He assured me that if we could prove the price online that he would honor it so Josh and I whipped out our iPhones simultaneously to search for what we had found earlier. As we did that the salesman disappeared. Almost as soon as we found the online sale price he came apologizing that he hadn't marked the sales properly, and that the island was actually supposed to be $249, not $349. Vindicated, and sold!

If I said assembly was easy I would be the world's biggest fattest liar. It was anything but and choosing to start this on a Saturday night at 9:45pm was a bad idea. But we pushed through and finished!

It was everything we needed! It gives us 2 huge drawers (1 actually has dividers for foil boxes and ziploc bags). The only part that didn't fully come together properly was the drawers. Notice the 2 holes to the left of the top drawer? Those shouldn't be seen. But for some reason (either an un-level floor or too heavy drawers) the drawers slowly slide open. So we had to cram them back in, hence showing the holes. We're hoping to find some door/drawer weights and pop them on the back of the drawer to solve this problem. Hopefully the holes will disappear at that point. Our kitchen only has 1 large drawer (big enough to hold all our utensils) and this gives us another option since the "real" drawer is showing some wear.

When we talked about buying this we actually decided that we would paint it/antique distress it white. I was on board, Josh was on board, and then we brought it home... and what we thought was a walnut stain was really more like the orangey stain that is in our cabinets. I've yet to find a name for our cabinets... they're not cherry... I'm at a loss. It was incredible and we happy danced around it when we realized it.matched.perfectly! Plus with the black top it couldn't be better! I can't even imagine it white now. It just looks like an extension of our cabinets!

I thought of doing some sort of chalkboard paint on this... but I really don't want to mess with it yet. The new-ness factor hasn't worn off yet. Oh and see the trim around the base? Yep, it's actually on casters so it's mobile!! Yet with how heavy the granite top is it doesn't go anywhere unless you want it to. win-win.

So if I sound like I'm singing the praises of this new piece of furniture- well I am. We love it and it was seriously one of the best purchases we've made. Bonus? We sold the old island for $50, which bring our grand total down to $200! Just $80 more than the first one new!