Duh.

My brother and his family were over for dinner the other night, and I noticed that, as always, everyone was standing around the big, huge island in our kitchen.  We were all kind of leaning on the island as if we'd rather be sitting, but where?

For the first time, I found myself wondering why the builder did not build an overhang on the island for a couple of counter stools.  While the edge of the island is sort of the edge of a walkway, there's really plenty of room for stools.  I sort of filed this away in the back of my mind, because my husband left for two weeks in Japan a few days later and life was a scramble.

(As it happens, the only photo I can find of the island features my cute husband.)

We miss you, honey!  Oh, and this kind of gives you a sense of the scale of it, with the girls working at the SHORT side of the thing.

Anyway, in the magazine aisle of Target yesterday, I saw this.

Lookie here: a nice big island with no overhang, and stools just lined right up.

Well, duh.

The truth is, I've never given much though to kitchen islands, having lived in a succession of NYC pads with small kitchens (the fact that my last place HAD an island was really exceptional, though really it was just a counter with the wall behind it removed.)  And I will admit that I don't always like the look.  But if this is where the party is in my house, hell, I should pull up a chair.  (One of the bits of advice in this House Beautiful makeover article that I seem to keep quoting was to have a party, watch where your guests drag the chairs, and try to leave them there.)

So I turned to pinterest to see if this is a thing.  You know, a thing.  That people do.  That normal, non-Martha people can get away with.  And guess what?

It totally is.

Source: aubreyroad.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: room-galleries.myhomeideas.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: desiretoinspire.net via Heather on Pinterest

Source: myhomeideas.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: memento-designs.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: restorationhardware.com via Heather on Pinterest

In my house, I'll need to keep it streamlined, with three stools to go along with the three cabinet doors in the island.  I like the tolix stools, as in the Martha cover, just because I like that kind of thing (See my round up of tolix knock offs, here), but also because the silver finish and tapered shape mimics the bases of my eames dining chairs.

Overstock has them, but they only come in pairs.  At $90/pair it's still probably the best deal, even not using one of the stools.  I also love the idea of those little slip covers, as seen above.  One more opportunity to get another fabric into that space, right?

But first, I'll just think about it for a while.  Notice how often I walk right into the path of where the stools would be.  Have another party and see where my guests drag the chairs.

Why don't you tell me: what do you think of the look?