Monday, June 27, 2011

Trash to Treasure Tuesday....Gigantor Edition

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH!!!  I'm so excited about this one I could pee!

Oh, uh, hey there.  What's up?  Long time no see.  I know, I GET IT!  You'll all be SO GLAD to know that the move is COMPLETE!  We are officially in the new house, all is unpacked and decorated and we're moving along.  Also, happy to report that Workshop is 5 days away from being completed and I can resume my life as I once knew it.  Which frankly, upsets my kids, because they rather enjoy going to Grammas or Aunt Jennys every day and playing with cousins and friends.  Whatever......they'll get over it.  Right. So anyway, point is, I'll be back to posting and I know you'll all sleep better knowing that.  But for realsies, I'm so looking forward to July, since it's my one month a year where I get to do NOTHING.  Which means, I will be doing TONS of projects.  I mean, I have an entire living room to completely revamp.  Look out thrift stores, Ima comin.

Aaaaaand now, back to todays trash to treasure.

It went a little something like this.  We looked at this house, we liked this house.  We decided to get said house, and then, we GOT this house.  I mentioned to my darlingest friend Chris, the builder of all things spectacular that holy crap I need an island.  The kitchen is ginormous and is screaming for one.  And then I sighed a pitiful sigh, and said, "someday I'm sure I'll be able to find one."  He rather foolishly piped up that all I needed to do was find an old kitchen table I liked and some kind of cabinet and he could just whip one up for me.  Whaaaaaa?  You do NOT tell me such things, 'cause I will jump on that train faster than you can say white on rice!  And I did.

I recalled seeing what I thought to be the "perfect" old table at a random goodwill only a few days earlier.  I took a chance and drove all the hooty hoo way out there on a Saturday, and lo and behold, that table was STILL there.  I took it as a sign.  This island was gonna be MINE!  So, for 25 bones I got a big old solid table.  Next, I meandered over to the local Stardust, which is a store entirely full of crap that is ripped out of houses and you can buy for dirt cheap.  I found a fabo drawer unit and snatched it up for 18 little dollars.  I was on.my.way people.  I promptly got them both home, sanded the bejebus out of that table top, and painted the legs and the drawer unit in a pretty semi gloss black.  And there they sat for a couple weeks, on my carport.  Finally, Chris came and retrieved them.  Then, they sat at his house for awhile longer.  FINALLY, under intensive time pressure, he whipped it together in about 12 hours.  And today, TODAY......because he loves me so, he delivered my wonderful, fabulous, beautiful kitchen island.  It is worth mentioning that they had to completely remove my ENTIRE sliding glass door (I HATE sliding glass doors) in order to get the island in.  But, they did it and now it sits gloriously in its place, looking majestic and lovely and PERFECT!!

Huh?  you want to see it?  Fiiiiiine, if I MUST!

BEFORE:
My apologies for being the worlds suckiest picture taker.



The drawers are sooo awesome.  Divided on top and SUPER deep on the bottom.  Which is a good thing, since I lost my one and only big drawer to the new oven we had to get.

Yeah, totally standard table of the 90's right there.  Actually, it looks almost just like my table, only BIGGER.

Prepare yourselves.  Because those two pieces became THIS.





AFTER:




Could you just DIE?????  Do you love it as much as me?  Oh well, it's ok if you don't.  But really, this is about as big as you get in trash to treasuring.  For somewhere under 100 bucks, I have this beauty and it makes my kitchen so much cooler.

All thanks to THIS guy......


THANKS Chris Dane.....you're the BEST!

And, just because.....


A picture of my Daddy and friend Tim putting the door back IN after dismantling it to get the island in.

Happy hunting!

31 comments:

The Wizzle said...

That looks AMAZING! So jealous over here.

And glad you are all moved in! Moving sucks, I'm NEVER doing it again. Never.

Tracie said...

Its BEAUTIFUL!!! So perfect for your new big kitchen!! Seriously, chris dane burk is RIDICULOUS...what would you do without him and his toolbelt?! So much talent that one. So glad you got your island...LOVE IT!

alison said...

seriously??????? holy mcmoley. that thing is incredible. kudos to chris. and i think that you can take mucho el credito for the AH-MAZING drawer and table finds that resulted in said incredibleness :) i can't wait to see what july brings for you and your house. it's going to be fabulous!

Cookie Mama said...

Love it! I laughed about the sliding doors, but looks like that island was worth it. Beautiful!

Okay I think it's time you take on a second/third job as a consultant. I will be sending you a picture of my kitchen so you can tell me how to fix it. For sure on the trash side of the treasure right now.

I can't wait for your next post. You have done an amazing job!

p.s. How is Milly? Your fans are waiting to hear how she is doing!

Unknown said...

Amazing! I actually gasped at the "after" picture. Great work! Congrats on being moved in. :)

Lene said...

A-freakin-mazing! Of course all credit goes to you for finding such a wonderful table and dresser.

The Scotts said...

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!

jen said...

I need to see the whole kitchen before I pass judgment :)

Krystal Trapnell said...

Wowie! love it!

Darci Cole said...

That was seriously the BEST trash to treasure EVER. My jaw dropped! It looks spectacular! Oh I can't wait til I have a home of my own that I can do fun stuff with... You've got a hard job ahead of you to top this one! Good luck!

Amanda said...

it's beautiful.. i'm in love.. with the island that is... ok.. so for the sliding glass doors.. here's a new project.. french doors! ready, set, gooOoooOOOooo!

Dixiechick said...

That really is beautiful. How the crap? One, how did you see the potential in such pieces. Two, how did Chris put them together so beautifully? I'm amazed. Nothing in my head ever turns out like that. Love.

AiringMyLaundry said...

Oh wow that is so beautiful!! I am impressed.

Teresa@magazineyourhome said...

Oh my gosh!!! I love it, it's exactly what I want to do!!!

Pini said...

Wow! That looks amazing! Congrats to both of you for eyeing them and finishing it! You are so good at this stuff! You need your own show on HGTV. I can just see it now, home projects mixed with your comedy and a touch of music theatre! Genius!! :) good stuff right there!!

azandersens said...

Get out! I LOVE it! Love LOVE love it. It is wasn't so darn HOT I would go to stardust more. Good job.

Stephanie @ dial m for minky said...

Shut. Up.
You are friggin amazing!!!!

Steph said...

Holy crapoly--that is awesome! I turned out gorgeous! You are very lucky to have such a talented and generous friend!

Debilou ~ Mississippi Mama said...

I found you on pinterest,, I love your kitchen island. It doesnt even look like two pieces put together... I so want to do this. Will you be sharing the "how to" perhaps??

Unknown said...

Ah.maze.ing! I love love love this! I saw your island on Better After and just can't get over it. It's beautiful, so practical and completely original!

Jen @ West Street Story said...

OHHH MMMM GEEEEE....this is one of the most amazing things I have seen! I just found this on the Better After blog and I am blown away by this. I am sorry, but I am going to have to *attempt* to copy this idea for my kitchen island!!

andy said...

That is so cool and creative!
Great job on the glossy black.

becky said...

I really love this island. It fills me with ideas. I don't need an island in the kitchen...but this little picture will sit dormant in my mind until one day the need will arise for something similar and then....pow...your island will scream out to me. Thanks.
becky@reinventingtheordinary.com

CeCe said...

It looks fabulous! Great Job.....

Marlia said...

I have an old pine table in the garage and I have an old pine chest of drawers. NO WAY would I EVER had thought of this. I am rather impressed.

Kammy's Korner said...

holy cow wow that is just AWESOME! I'd be so excited I might pee too! haha!!! I found you over on BetterAfter and I know this is from last summer but I'd LOVEEEEE for you to share this with my readers by linking up to my Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday Party (gee how fitting as thats the title of your post!!). http://kammyskorner.blogspot.com/2012/02/trash-2-treasure-tuesday-20.html

shabbygals said...

This is so awesome!! This is such a good idea.....I saw this on better after and I had to come check you out! Maybe a project in my near future....just what my husband would like to hear;)

Unknown said...

Allyson, I am so glad I found this post...my husband and I are in the process of buying a new house and the kitchen is really big! Really empty in the middle...and I thinking about an island...this is such a great idea! You go girl!

Kymberly Foster Seabolt said...

Fantastic!

Unknown said...

I know this post is really old, but I've had it pinned on my "kitchen Island" board forever, and I now have the time to do it.... but I realized there is no tutorial..... How did he do the base? And attach the 2 pieces so seamlessly....? Any info is much appreciated!!

Unknown said...

A basic tutorial on how he put them together would be awesome! I have both of these pieces literally sitting in my garage. Thanks :)