I have been working away on a few design consultations as well as a local re-design , the home owners are very motivated to make some great cosmetic improvements , so far they have added beadboard wainscot and moved three rooms around , they are in the midst of painting their oak cabinets white .
This is the cabinet I wanted them to buy to replace a very modern TV console , it is a piece I saw on Kijiji for a while now , I am in the midst of painting this piece white for a crisp updated look . Won't it look lovely under a wall mounted LCD , the big screen has to stay , I understand , I live in the real world , it will be gorgeous. Secretly I would love it for myself.

As well I have been helping my friend and neighbour with her kitchen , we have the same house layout , and she liked the idea of a kitchen island , so after thinking it through and building up courage , we are tackling it together , she is very handy , but building an island can be intimidating for any DIYer , no one wants an island to look "homemade" .

Do you remember this kitchen , the golden oak , she hated it , so many told her not to pain it , it would chip , some said ok but maybe white, I love my white painted cabinets , but she is not a white kitchen gal .

So how do you make a fearless choice on these kind of decisions? well you ask yourself ,

self ? " if money were no object , what kind of kitchen would you have?"
well it turned out she would have a dark espresso stained kitchen , it is her desired look , so she painted the cabinets a deep dark brown and added trim , completely changing the look of her nearly new but tired kitchen .

So what did the nay sayers say? well they love it , of course .

Well the Mexican styled pine table and chairs has lost that loving feeling , and my lovely friend desired an island with storage , storage she will get , three doors of closed cabinets and three shelves of open display. We even used the skirting of the table as supports for the cabinet building , ultimate recycling.

It will have a creamy glazed finish , as well as a butcher block counter top from IKEA.

We got to bring our her new tools , see she asked for tools for Christmas , a miter saw and nail gun , it was nice to break them in on what is turning out to be such an impressive piece.

She is still a little worried it is too big but I must assure her it is not , its just what this kitchen needed .

I will be sure to show you the afters.