~Kitchen Remodel Part One~ The Kitchen Island

We have been trying to figure out ways to get more storage in our kitchen, but not take up more room, since there isn't much there with the kitchen table set we had. I had found other kitchen sets, but it still took up just as much room and we had no more storage than we did before. We had to get a new table, glass table tops and two rowdy boys do not mix, at all!
So we started tossing around the idea of building an island with storage in there, something that we could also add bar stools to and have a breakfast bar as well. We priced out some options, and figured out that it was going to cost us about $500-$600 plus whateverbar stools we decided to get.
Then on this past Wednesday, my brother Jarod called me and said that Lowes had a ton of kitchen cabinets on clearance for $20! The boys and I went up there and we were able to score a huge double cabinet, it was normally $169
Then we got a shelving unit to fit on the end. I was able to get baskets to fit in the cubes and used blank luggage tags to personalize them for each of the boys. I also painted the back of the cabinet with blackboard paint, that way the boys have a little play area



On Thursday night Seth, the boys and I headed out to Ikea to see if we could get some bar stools. We had found some online that we liked for $17.99 each. When we got there we found out that they were on major back order. We couldn't even order them for 2 wks and then they wouldn't arrive for another 2. So we thanked the guy and started looking for other options. When we were looking, thesales guy came up to us and told us he had a deal for us. They were tearing down old set ups and had a pair of stools that they sold for $59 each, but he would give them to us for $19! SOLD Not only were they more comfortable, we were able to score a 3rd one down in the As-id dept and the cashier gave us the same price for it. Two of the stools are a black moleskin, the other is a black and white stripe. Eventually we want to get a 4th one and get all black covers to match. We were also able to score a 73" countertop with stainless steel edging for $95!!

All we have left to do is picture frame molding on the chalkboard, its all cut, I just need to paint the final coat tomorrow and then glue them up. Our next project is going to be re-doing the cabinets, I HATE the color they are. Final touch will be lighting. We are going to take the light box and the chandelier down, we just don't know what we are going to replace them with. What do you think??