{renovate} kitchen update: sinks and islands

I feel like we're making some big progress lately, which is nice after have made so little progress for so long. This weekend friends came over to help (the same awesome ones that helped us assemble our cabinets on the 4th of July), and we got so much done!

Sink and Faucet

First, we officially installed both our sink and faucet. Our dishwasher and garbage disposal are also hooked up to the water -- but they still need to be wired before we can use them. We're close!

I am completely in love with this sink. It's IKEAs DOMSJO (no idea how to umlaut!) farm sink. We went with the 36" version and it's so awesomely huge. It's also solid, heavy and feels like really good quality ceramic. I'm completely in love. Oh, did I already mention that? :)

The faucet is Danze's Parma faucet, which we ordered from Lowe's. Isn't it amazing?? You might remember it from my original kitchen moodboard. At first I was a little surprised by how HUGE it is, but it the scale is actually quite perfect for the big farm sink. They live together gloriously.

The nozzle lives for the most part in the little arm clamp (right). But it also comes out and moves any direction. Love.

At this point though, for me, the most exciting thing is WE HAVE WATER! Seriously, not having water in the kitchen has been the hardest part of this remodel, by far. It's never bothered me that we lost the stove and oven. But, not having water in that room for three+ months? Saying it bothered me is an understatement. Anyone else who has been through a kitchen remodel -- do you agree??

We had a plumber come over and hook up the faucet, garbage disposal and dishwasher. Friends it took about an hour. That's the best $85 dollars I've ever spent. And, I'm pretty sure that figure included a couple parts.

Kitchen Island

Next, we also installed our island! Which means that ALL the cabinets are officially installed!

Instead of going with an standard IKEA island, we installed three IKEA base cabinets together to make a custom 6-foot island. Our stovetop will go above the middle cabinet.

For now, we have a piece of plywood serving as the counter. We did this for two reasons. First, we want to use the island! But, most of all, we're trying to decide how wide we'd like our overhang. We cut the plywood to the largest it would be -- a 12-inch overhang. I think it's too much though. Anyone out there have thoughts on island overhangs?? Is there a standard? I'm thinking for the width of the island cabinets, an 8" overhang would look more to scale. We're trying that next. :)

The chairs are from World Market. They were also on my original moodboard. I LOVE them. But, sadly, they're bar height, and we need counter height. So, back they're going. Sob. I have to start my stool search again. And tips on affordable, counter-height stools ... that are awesome?

We created the base the same way we created the rest of the bases, but from this angle, it looks quite skinny and almost unsteady. We'll be bulking it up just a little and bringing the base out so it's flush with the cabinets on three sides.

It's coming together! Once we finish the floor, tile, finish the trim, hang the cabinet doors, install the island countertop and install the lights we'll be done. So, you know, by next weekend. HAHA! :)

I do want to thank you all for hanging in there with us through this remodel. I'm sure you know it's taking us longer than originally planned, but you all have been so encouraging and I'm loving sharing our updates. Thanks for all your kind words friends! :)