The Beginning of THE ISLAND PROJECT... Planning

OK - so my great rental farm house that I took up residence in after The D word has literally 4 feet of counter space.

And while all the rooms are big and airy and have lots of windows, not the little, teeny, tiny kitchen. Didn't people "back then" value their kitchens? It was a mystery why the kitchen was so short-ended. Even more for me was where the hell to put my microwave. I contemplated not even having a mircrowave but already get strange enough looks not having cable or a TV bigger than 10" (or whatever size it is!)

So - the microwave took up some of that precious counter space and plans for making a super-deluxe kitchen island started taking up precious brain space.

I started with a month of planning. Yes. A month. It takes a lot of hours of brain storming what do I want, what do I need, and what can I accomplish with my tools, space, and skills. After many hours of pinterest browsing I came up with a small sketch & list of "needs/wants."

These were my final notes to myself completed on 10/27/2013. In the end, the island looks very similar to what I sketched out.....

I'm sorry for the bad quality of these notes. They were made in pencil.... but once I knew what I wanted I had to start working out how it would get built and what materials would be needed. I think one misconception I had was that it would be "cheap" to build. All in, by the end, it was probably several hundred bucks. BUT - it started out very cheap with these finds:

These are cabinets I found on the side of the road. While I'm not prone to grabbing other people's trash, this was hard to pass up. I took it apart before I took the picture but this cabinet has a door, all hardware & a working drawer.

This was me playing in the garage with an arrangement. I knew I wanted the island to have a microwave cabinet on one side. Could the microwave go on top of the single cabinet on it's side? In the end, this didn't happen. 

I taped an aerial view of the island on the kitchen floor and we walked around it for a few weeks trying to see how it would feel in the already small kitchen. I read a lot of sites that said at minimum, have 36" of walking space around the island. I wouldn't have that. I'd have 27". But the oven door could open and so could the cabinets under the sink. I needed the 6' of counter space I was creating to say nothing of the storage & microwave "home" more than I needed a comfortable 36" of walk around.....

.

And so this is the start of my second greatest project. It turns out just amazing. Over the next few weeks I'll be spelling out the steps. I took a lot of pictures. This isn't beginner carpentry but someone handy could do all of what I'm about to show. This project took us until July of 2014 to complete. Almost 9 months. But it was worth it.

NOW WHAT?

LOOK IN THE MIRROR & CLIMB THE LADDER

Life doesn't always feel like it's good. Life is up and down, happy and sad. I used to think, as soon as I get past this, it'll get better. Then I realized as soon as I got past "this" there was a new "this" and it was a never ending cycle. I realized when my girls were little that we can't control other human beings. Which sucks. But then, where would be the fun if we could? 

I've been thinking about my little motto - to Live Passionately. How that extends to all areas. I try to be passionate about my Day Job, to enjoy it, to excel, to make the most of each day. I have a long commute - I try to be passionate about that. Just recently decided to try taking the train again a few days a week & if I have to have a long commute make some Jen time out of it..... 

Passion isn't about sexuality. Passion isn't even about being "positive" all the time. In fact, sometimes being passionate means NOT being positive. Making the hard choices and changes. We have to enjoy OUR life. It's the only one we get. We can't do that to the exclusion of others. But we do need to do it. Since we are PEOPLE and other people can't control us any more than we can control them, sometimes our actions aren't at all what they wanted. It can be a challenging balance being kind to ourselves, while being kind to others.... Where do  you find yourself not being passionate? Just going through the motions? 

OK, Here is my clever "Transition" from a weird little tirade to my DIY post.... look in the mirror and take a good look at where you are ho-hum and start climbing the ladder to find your passion in life again.....

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LOOK IN THE MIRROR

AGAIN - I made a really great project that the teenager didn't care about and didn't want.... It turned out great with one exception - DO NOT as other blogs tell you, use a cheap walmart mirror. Mine has warped and it's now a fun-house mirror. I will be re-doing this project one day to make it much more grand, but here are some ideas for you and perhaps inspiration to make your own.

VERY simply this is a full-length mirror glued on plywood, surrounded by fancy rope trim, and some small decorative details also glued/tacked on. Simple. Honestly.

A few things - glue flat & then hang this bugger up. I think that caused the eventual warping in mine. OR - brace the back with 1x2's or something to keep the plywood stiff.... 

Take your time. Don't make this a one-day project. For a one-day project see the ladder below.... This needs a day for the mirror to set in the glue before you start with the trim, or you risk it slipping around and ruin your square. I did manage to get the mirror perfectly centered between the sides and square all the way around. 

Close up of the detail.... I cut the mitered trim about 1/4 inch too big and then one-half a blade length at a time until it was perfect. Those are good fits. I had very little sanding to do and no filling. I LOVE the decorative pieces!!!

It seemed pretty empty at the bottom so I added this little dust collector. I still love love this mirror but since it did warp a little I wanted to make sure to tell you, don't listen to other little Pins that say "buy a cheap mirror." No, no, no. I'm not saying spend $50, but make sure it's decent. All in, plywood, trim, etc this cost me $32. I would have invested a little more for a long-lasting mirror!

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CLIMB THE LADDER

I love ladders. I have half a dozen in my garage loft begging for a project. But my very first one was an old, pigeon pooped, barn ladder that was like 100 years old. I wish I had taken more pictures of past projects progress (I get better at this with later projects I'll be putting on) but, this ladder was 

U G L Y.

I washed it. Sanded it. And it had the most beautiful red wood ever. I am not sure at all what it was. One day I'll be more educated on my woods... but anyway, I painted it flat black, sanded some more, and spray painted a protective clear coat over it. This is how I WAS using it:

Books on a ladder is super cool. IF YOU SECURE THE LADDER TO THE WALL, If you do not - one day the books will come crashing down and bust whatever (TV) is in front of it! But that is another story.....

NOW WHAT????

Meet Diesel Rabbit

Meet Diesel Rabbit:

Diesel faces a dilemma every year which, I'm quite sure, tens of thousands of bunnies face: school is over and he is left quite homeless..... The kids go home for the summer to sleep until noon, eat their families out of everything, beg for the car (if old enough.... or not), spend their parent's money and WHAT? the poor rabbits are left behind. Does anyone think of them? Probably not. And do you know why? Because some family will be suckered  volunteer to take him.

And so, we were that family. But I was happy to have him. No seriously. I was - even if he didn't seem to care for me too much and nearly ate through my curling iron cord, my lamp cord, and my window fan cord. 

The best part? He was housebroken!

But he needed to go outside. I wanted to build him a super deluxe rabbit hutch like this, but instead I opted to use (mostly) the wood lying around in the garage, picked up some wire at Tractor Supply, and built a very simple outdoor pen for Mr. Diesel Rabbit (do you think some redneck boys in that ag class named him?)

So this is what I came up with. It was my first wood project that Mr. Perfect (meant in love when I say these things as he is the greatest guy) and we learned valuable lessons in communication! I only took these after pictures. It took us one full Saturday and we finished by lunch on Sunday. 

It was/is meant to be able to be closed in and have a wintering box put inside but since, in Diesel's situation, he goes back to school in the fall, that will not be necessary!

NOW WHAT???