UPDATED KITCHEN ISLAND

The kitchen island got a little makeover recently. (I'm talking about the wood bar top on the back, not the mess underneath...) Now we have a place to sit in the kitchen, which is really handy since our dining room is still a full-blown construction zone.

The wood slab was actually cut from an old library desk my dad salvaged from my high school alma mater during a recent renovation. It was cut to size, sanded a bit and slathered with food-grade mineral oil. Some scratches and nicks are fully visible, and that's how we wanted it -- full of character and remnants of its past life. (We don't plan to use it as a cutting board.) Ez attached it to the back of the table using a bracing system of his own design. It's very industrial looking, but it works -- and it's the perfect bar height.

We also put a coat of light-colored stain on the range hood, which we don't particularly like. The test boards we used turned out beautifully; sadly, the effect didn't replicate on the actual hood for some reason. Oh well. I don't know yet what we'll do to remedy it, if anything. I'm hoping we'll just get used to it... I think finishing the trim will help.

Anyway, back to the island. As this instagram pic shows, Johnnie unexpectedly loves it and would really prefer to sit on a bar stool (the center one, specifically) to eat her meals if I let her. Which I don't (as you can see from the second photo, taken while she ate dinner last night...) The thought of her falling off the stool and onto the concrete floor is more than I can bear, so it's a very special treat for her to sit there with us. The first time we let her, we looked at a magazine together. Now she asks for a book every time, a habit I don't mind indulging.

Slowly, this place is becoming a bit more comfy. We have a long way to go, but developments like this one are really helpful in making this house feel more like home.