Q: I love the look of a distressed/rustic wood island for the kitchen – and even for the dining room. I would like to buy one pre-made, but can’t seem to find anything that fits the bill as having that true salvaged feeling to it. Is there anywhere I can buy one similar to either of these (larger photos below)? Thanks!
Sent by Amanda


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Sheex Bedding
Where do you live, google lumber salvage yards and get one cut to size. We have many places in the Bay Area. I just helped my friend do this for their country home and it was not expensive and looks beautiful.
Napastyle?
In Chicago there are a couple great sources for salvaged goods. You can browse their catalogs online.
Salvage One:
http://tinyurl.com/y79fhyt
Urban Remains:
http://tinyurl.com/y63xez5
Wisteria:
http://www.wisteria.com/Bleached-Butchers-Table/productinfo/W2830/
http://www.wisteria.com/Vintage-Chinese-Butchers-Table/productinfo/W1377/
Pottery Barn:
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/markham-console-bar/?pkey=cbars-cabinets
Then of course there's your local flea markets, estate sales and auctions: However you're not going to find it if you ask for a "Kitchen Island", as those didn't exist...
...you need to ask for apothecary cabinets, wooden general-store display counters - and as those in the photos above, carpenter's workbenches.
I love these too. I used a drop leaf table with the leaves dropped that I inherited from my mother. I loved that piece. I gave it to Goodwill when I moved. Try tag shops.
I once found a beautiful, genuine, in excellent condition round wrought iron table with four chairs for $129 at a Savers. There are over 200 in the country. See if there is one in your area.
Ruthie here from Community Forklift, a DC area thrift store for home improvement. I like your taste, I think that's a beautiful table in the picture.
We do get workbenches like that in from time to time, but not that often...if you are not in a hurry, I would say you should make regular rounds of salvage yards like ours (we're about 5 min outside of NE DC, just off Kenilworth Avenue, but there are other great reuse stores out in the suburbs, many run by Habitat for Humanity. And Baltimore has awesome ones too).
Nonprofit thrift stores like ours can be quirky since we rely on volunteers. Calling to ask what we have is not a great option, because our staff is small and things turn over so quickly that we often don't know what we have (Think how good your chances would be if you called Goodwill to ask for a size 12 gray skirt suit). Your best bet is just to drop by often.
Also you should definitely hunt at Eastern Market, the Georgetown Flea Market, and in some of the cool stores in the U St. area. I think you would have an excellent chance at Good Wood or Miss Pixies.
If you just want to order or buy something, no hunting needed, I recommend getting in touch with Marcus Sims (www.treincarnation.com). He sells rough-hewn reclaimed hardwoods with gorgeous grain on consignment here at Community Forklift. Folks often buy them to make DIY tabletops, shelves, and counters. But Marcus also does nifty custom furniture himself.
One more thing...since you're interested in using this in the kitchen, beware painted wood. Chipping old paint may give a piece rustic character...but it could also give you lead poisoning. Just want to make sure you're thinking about that.
Good luck!!!
Not sure if you are handy, or have any desire to make your own, but the blog Knock Off Wood has plans for a table/island just like that (http://knockoffwood.blogspot.com/search/label/tables). You could avoid the chipping paint issue mentioned above and you could customize as needed to fit your space.
You might want to have a carpenter assemble it on-site. I've heard horror stories about kitchen islands not fitting through the door...
Thanks everyone for all of these amazing sources! I'm in the KC area, by the way, if anyone knows of anything local. I appreciate the help!
Moon River Chattel in Brooklyn makes beautiful tables from old wood. They're generally somewhat pricey, but every once in a while they have major sales. Just have to check in regularly! I got a beautiful 8 foot farm table 50% off.