I’ve been up to a few changes around here.  And I’ve had them done for awhile, I just haven’t shared them yet.  Why? You ask?  Welp, mostly because that requires me to have a clean kitchen, long enough to snap photos, and get them uploaded and on the the blog.  A task that has proven quite hard these last few months with a crawling babe around:)

There you have it . True life.  My kitchen is not always spotless.  “gasp”

But, I finally got around to getting a few pics so I thought I would show you what I’ve been up to.  We have had this island in the house since close to when we moved in.

and I loved it.  I did.  I loved the chunky butcher block and the fun legs.  But what I didn’t love about it was it didn’t provide much storage…..or counter top space.  So I was on the hunt for something new.  I was looking in a Real Simple magazine and found one that was quite cute at Crate and Barrel.  It looked like this..

Cute huh?  But at $500 I just didn’t want to commit. So I went online and googled it to see if I could find it cheaper, and I came across this one at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

I really love the look of islands that don’t look like islands.  Like old farmhouse tables, unique consoles, or something of the sort….but truth is, they aren’t super functional.  Yes, I said that Ryan!  Every once and awhile I do look at function:)  This would provide great storage.  It had a divider in one side for trays, cookie sheets, and pans, along with a pull out drawer, and the other side has two shelves.  It added huge amounts of closed off storage.  What I didn’t like was that it looked so “stock” ish, if you know what I mean.

The casters were really corny, the handles were way too modern, and the top was unfinished.  So, a little DIY was in the works.  I ended up planking the bottom, changing the hardware, adding corbels, and staining the top.  I also took off the casters and added feet to the bottom.  This is what I came up with…

I also decided that I liked the counter top fully extended at all times, so I actually screwed the corbels in and made it permanent.  I was surprised to find out I could also add a few stools to it.  A great place for the kids to eat breakfast or work on school.  I knew I needed the stools to be really shallow to allow space to walk through, and found these stools on target.com.  They have proven to be the perfect stool.  They scoot in nicely, have a little lip in the back to hold up the toddler, and wipe up beautifully:)

I’m fully aware my chalkboard still says spring.  That’s about how it is around here.  A few steps behind:)

I also switched out the ugly wood towel holder for a metal one I found at Ikea.

You’ll notice there are a few more black pops as well.  I must say, I loved both looks when I look back at previous pics, but I think the black makes it look a little more farm house as well.  And if you follow me on Instagram, you saw a preview pic of my new chalkboard..

I just switched out the font once I saw Jo Jo’s on Instagram titled Market List.

So we now have a little more functional space.  Another seating area, and a larger counter top.  Sometimes functionality does win over style, but at least there are still ways to “tweak” to make something your own.