There is a second hand restaurant equipment company in town, and I decided to get a stainless steel prep table from them.
I love my teeny house but the kitchen counters are small and only a few feet on either side of the sink. There is little room to do anything that needs space like chopping a bunch of veggies or making a pizza crust.
The new table is a monster, it is 30x48 (I had to take off two sets of doors to get it in the kitchen) and it is taking up a lot of the small kitchen floor space. But it is
wonderful. Huge, easy to clean stainless surface.
So far I've painted the kitchen, put in a new vinyl floor, put up shelves and seven pot racks (I have my regular pots and pans plus my ornamental copper pan collection). I still have to repaint the cabinets and put cabinet liners in.
Both kids now have fiancés, so I want to start having big family gatherings from time to time and when this is all finished, I will feel like I have a 'new' kitchen to cook the big Italian, BBQ, southern fried chicken meals I have planned.
BTW before I started all these projects I checked out commercial kitchen remodel prices with new cabinets and sinks and fancy countertops and professionally installed flooring. It can easily run $10,000 and more.
My DIY kitchen project? Less than $500. Including the prep table.