My mother called me up recently and asked if I had an opinion on stainless steel kitchen islands or butcher block islands. She was in the process of renovating her kitchen and was torn between these two styles. I told her that I didn’t know much about either but that I would take upon myself to research them so that I could report back to her and give her an honest informed opinion. She was impressed with my dedication and allowed me to complete this "assignment".

While online, I found a great source for everything that I would need. It’s a web site called KitchenIslandShop.com and is the premium web store for kitchen island related things. On the left bar of their clean web site, I found just what I was looking for: Style of Kitchen Island–Butcher Block Islands, Stainless Steel Islands, Wood Kitchen Islands, Granite Kitchen Islands and Stone Kitchen Islands. Wow, even more options than I had imagined. Now the choice would be even more difficult. Clicking through all the various styles, I soon learned that perhaps my mother would enjoy the Stone Kitchen Islands style moreso han both the stainless steel and butcher block varieties. Upon first glance, I couldn’t help but notice tha it matched all her cabinets to a tee. The walnut finished wood was elegant and modern while the smooth natural stone top capped off a great package. At that moment, I imagined my mother finding joy in carefully wiping away any dust on her new stone countertop. She tends to treat her furniture as if they were her own children.  As advertised on the site, it’s "the perfect blend of casual and contemporary" and when my mom asked me why this was the choice to be made, I recited this quote and she was sold.

If you’re on a tight budget but really are hankering for a good quality kitchen island to put in the center of your kitchen, I completely sympathize. Kitchen Island Shop is where I recommend people go to whenever they ask me about my kitchen work table. This online web store is the ideal place for anyone to order kitchen islands and related kitchen island items for under $500. Currently, there are nearly 20 products on sale so there is a good chance they have what you’re looking for.

In terms of just strictly kitchen islands–stationary or portable–there are 8 in-store at the moment. I bought my "Contemporary Kitchen Cart" for only $434.99 which is actually more than $200 off the retail price! If you check now, I’m sure it’s the same low price, if not even lower. This kitchen cart was perfect because I could keep in the kitchen in the center or I could place it in the dining room when I would have dinner parties. It didn’t take me long to realize that this versatile discount kitchen island can act as a serving table in addition to just a kitchen island. At nearly 50-inches long, it is the perfect length to hold fancy food for fancy feasts. Beneath it, is a sophisticated wine rack that can cradle 5 bottles of wine. As a joke, during one of my dinner parties, my husband pretended he was a sommelier and had a kick out of pushing our cart towards people and advertising all the wine we had on the wine rack. However you use it, these unique discount kitchen islands can only be found at KitchenIslandShop.com.

I recently moved into a new home and would like to create a French country feel to my big kitchen. I have always adored that style and ambience and didn’t think twice about re-creating this look. The most important thing about crafting that unique flair is to pay attention to details. Color is a crucial element in French country kitchen design. Typically, the colors range from sunny yellow and soft gold to a burnt rust and dark hunter green. It is all supposed to conjure up the pastures of the French countryside and is very quintessentially French.

To help complete this look, you can go to Kitchen Island Shop’s online store and peruse their many kitchen islands. The best thing about them is that they carry a wide range of islands in all different styles and sizes. One particular kitchen island that is perfect for feigning the true French Country trait is called the "Drop Leaf Oak Kitchen Cart" and looks like it was taken out of a French villa. Finished with oak, this cart provides a drop leaf portion for the extra preparation space you require. Although the base is constructed out of a select hardwood and is properly dried to prevent warping and cracking, you can create that rustic French Country appearance by sanding or rough staining the cabinets on the island . Natural wood also composes the butcher block top and is incredibly durable to preserve the natural beauty and quality of the wood. All of these are only part of creating a French countryside kitchen but it’s undeniable that the kitchen island lends a great deal to the overall charm.

If you’re like me, and have a small (but charming!) place you call home, it’s often difficult to find good design elements to fit in the limited space you have. It requires alot of creativity to think up storage solutions but let me tell you now, it is entirely possible. Here are some of mine:

• Invest in a kitchen island (a smaller kitchen cart, if the larger models won’t fit) and you will have an ideal freestanding, mobile storage area to place all your cookbooks and spices. If you absolutely cannot fit any extra furniture in your kitchen, you can move your mobile kitchen island cart to side of the kitchen where it can act as a nifty shelf and extended cuttng board for when you need it.
• Install deeper counters and cabinets so that you can accomodate more appliances and kitchenware while increasing the work space.
• Hang up pots and pans on a rack that you attach to your ceiling. This will free up space in the cabinet or area where you would normally house your pots and stoves.
• Put little hooks around the kitchen so that you can hang up oven mitts and tea towels for easy access. With kitchen islands and work tables, these features are included and are built into the side of the base.

Finally, it’s important to understand that in a small space, clutter is only going to make your kitchen smaller. Keep the things that don’t belong in your kitchen out while keeping the things that do belong, neat and organized in their proper places. You will begin to see all that extra surface area and your kitchen cart counter as a gold mine.

Last night, we invited some new neighbors over for a nice afternoon barbeque. It was a chance for other neighbors to greet the new members to our block while also greeting our new outdoor kitchen island. We had bought it the week prior and found this to be the perfect opportunity to welcome both parties on one occasion.

Our awesome outdoor kitchen island comes equipped with everything you can imagine and some you can’t even begin to! It has a grill, stove, a mini fridge, wet bar and a dishwasher–all for one inclusive low price. I almost feel like if our kitchen inside were to die out on us, we’d at least have our outdoor kitchen island to cater to our needs. What my husband and I consider to be the best part about the outdoor kitchen work station is the fact that it is a great way to entertain the guests.

I had marinated some barbeque the night before and my husband simply had to put it on the grill for a few minutes before it was ready to serve. All the while, our friends were sitting around the high level countertop–with chilled margaritas on hand–on our new barstools. We even learned that our new neighbors were from the same town in Pennsylvania I grew up in. What a small world! I must say, all the socializing was a beautiful sight and I certainly got a lot of compliments on our new outdoor kitchen cart so I’m sure it would be happy to know that it is accepted by all in our neighborhood.

I may be alone in saying that my kitchen, unfortunately, does not come readily equipped with a kitchen island. It’s something I’ve resented for quite some time but never had the gall to actually do something about. A few days ago, I made that choice to go from Complaining Carrie to Happy Heather. I decided that I would make my very own custom kitchen island! It appeared to be an arduous task from the instructional books I bought but actually, once I set upon doing it, it was much easier than I had thought.

First, I set out to organize my plan. I knew for sure that I wanted a permanent stationary kitchen island because I knew that I had enough space for it in my kitchen. Then I took the measurements of the open space in my kitchen to make certain that I could indeed fit one in the allotted area and set off to the hardware store to purchase what I needed. When I came back, I had a lot of raw materials and a lot of screws. I employed the help of my boyfriend and we assembled my new granite kitchen island. It wasn’t actually too difficult. With instructions in hand, all we needed were power drills and determination. In fact, we multitasked by having my boyfriend build the base of the custom kitchen island while I constructed the drawers. I was aware that once I actually built the custom kitchen island, the rest would come easily.

We went out and bought some barstools to act as seating for guests and family. Then I took it upon myself to put all the lovely tools and gadgets in their appropriate nooks and crannies. I quite enjoyed this whole process and actually went out to buy more wine just to fill all of the 12 slots on the wine rack we installed. If you are in the market for a kitchen island, butcher block or work table, or want to gather ideas for your custom kitchen island, you should go to Kitchen Island Shop’s web site. You will find that do it yourself projects are ultimately very rewarding.

The kitchen is by far my favorite room in the house. I love cooking and preparing food, but I find that sometimes I simply don’t have enough counter space. That’s when I found the easy solution to my problem which would not require the time, hassle, and money of a complete kitchen remodel. I could get a kitchen island or butcher block! I’ve found that it’s easy to find a kitchen island or butcher block to match my kitchen, especially on KitchenIslandShop.com. They have islands with stone countertops, wood butcher block tops, and even stainless steel.

So I told my husband what I really wanted for Christmas was not a piece of jewelry or shoes or anything like that. I want a better kitchen! So I told him to check out Kitchen Island Shop for me, and I even hinted at the kind of kitchen island I want. I found a great kitchen work table with a butcher block top that will fit perfectly in our kitchen. The best part is, because it’s a table and not an island, it doesn’t require any special installation, yet provides the same butcher block top and extra counter space I really want. Kitchen Island Shop gave me the Christmas present I really wanted!

Most people enjoy designing their kitchen’s new kitchen island. They spend weeks trying to decide if they want a marble countertop or a stainless steel one, if they should have a sink or a set of burners or both, and exactly what size and shape it should be. These kitchen island ideas are pretty basic but I challenge you to be more creative!  Everyone might feel like they are creating the most unique kitchen island any home has ever seen, but I can guarantee you that those choices are almost all the same. It is time to have some fun with it and create a kitchen island the whole family loves!

Instead of adding an additional sink or mini refrigerator into this work table, why not add an ice cream maker or a smoothie bar? Better yet, you can incorporate an entire ice cream sundae making station! Work tables like this would be perfect for parties and after-dinner dessert! You should sit down with your family and discuss what options would be the most useful and the most fun. Everyone will love the finished product because they all had a part in creating it. Have fun with your own kitchen island ideas!

Everyone loves the look of marble. If you are someone who needs to remodel their kitchen, then you should look into a marble kitchen island! Out of the three stones that are used for kitchen island and work table countertops, marble is the most popular due to its high durability and “softer” look. Marble comes in several different colors and it is highly resistant to extreme heat, chips, and scratches. These qualities are great for the extreme conditions one normally sees in a working kitchen!

These stone kitchen islands really blend beauty and practicality. Every kitchen looks great with shiny marble countertops and every experienced chef knows it is a great surface on which to chop, slice and dice. If you are ready to invest in your own marble kitchen island, then you need to check out kitchenislandshop.com today! You will be amazed by the low prices and huge selection of great looking marble kitchen islands. FREE shipping with every purchase!

Would you ever go on vacation without seeing pictures of where you were going?  People rarely book a hotel unless they know what it looks like; it would just be a mistake! No matter how great it sounds on paper, it could turn out to be awful! Pictures really are worth a thousand words, which brings me to another point:  you need to check out some kitchen island pictures. If you are interested in designing your own kitchen island, you need to take a look at some kitchen island pictures!

These pictures will give you a much better idea of what elements have and have not worked when other individuals have decided to design a kitchen island. I recommend checking out some interior designer websites but you should also look at the sites that sell kitchen islands. Kitchen Island Shop is the best site for great discounts on a huge selection of kitchen island furniture. The kitchen island pictures are top-quality on this site as well so you can get started on your dream kitchen island right away!