I would use it as a knitting bin....but when it was made I believe the intention was a sewing box; there is not a lot of history on knitting boxes, because knitting was "small stuff". Yarn was fine and needles small and the items knit were mostly things like sox and mitts, lace and stockings, and mending was a constant chore. There's a long history of finely made sewing stands, some had a wooden bin seemingly hanging below, others had a bag fastened to the bottom of a small stand which held the mending. About 1930 or a bit before a sewing stand with slant opening top became stylish....it was called a "Priscilla" after a sewing machine of the same name, and it had a top handle so it could be easily carried from the sewing room to the parlor when the lady of the house wanted to do her mending I had a child sized one when I was a little girl....I wonder what happened to it? Another style of sewing stand was called a Martha Washington; it was a center stand with 2 or 3 drawers and 2 side bins with lift tops. What you have is a sewing stand, related to a Pricilla but likely hand made for someone by a husband or father.

Not an expert at all but have learned a little about Cherry. Just bought a Home that was built in early 80's. My wife wasn't happy with the cabinet color. They were a dark, dark brown, kind of chocalate or mocha. After looking into it we discovered they were solid cherry faces and doors. Not paneled doors, but solid cherry wood. I disassembled all 23 doors and 12 drawers and took them to a hardwood supply company to have the stain sanded off. Chemical strippers didn't get the look we wanted. As we refinished them we came across the same thing you mentioned. Reddish to blonde wood colors in the same piece of wood. A reputible cabinet maker explained that this was the reason the cherry is usually stained, to get more of uniform look. We used clear polyurathane and couldn't be happier with the unique look of our new cabinets. Don't know if this helped but this is what I know about cherry

I actually think the original design is fine. I'm assuming you have a side by side CD fridge. If you have a 36" door then it needs to move over. The 42" might be a bit tight (especially considering projection of fridge door and 1.5" overhang of countertop) but honestly, I would still consider it in the range of acceptable. I would first consider shrinking the island by 3" on either end (to keep it symmetrical) if you want a wider aisle, than I would consider moving the fridge over, as I like the look with the fridge in the middle of that short wall. Also seems like there is a hallway on the right side of the kitchen (perhaps leading to another room? dining?) and a fridge in that edge spot could swing out and cause obstructions for traffic. It's really important to consider what is adjacent to the kitchen, not just the kitchen itself. In the alternatives, #2 is way off balance so drop that. Between #3 and #4, it's just up to you if you want a prep sink. I see it as useful as I expect those mullion doors would host glasses, and you don't have in-door water. Having a water source in your drinks area is great, and with a prep sink you have a nice little bar area setup. You have plenty of working counterspace in the kitchen already (imho). Everyone is right about the oven/wd in the corner at an angle. I think it really poses a functionality issue as well -- if you have the wd open, then you can't open the drawers to either side! Drawers leading into both sides of a corner can already create annoying situations (depending on what is stored in the drawers and how often they are opened)... but the warming drawer also butting in with those drawers really compounds the problem. Basically, I agree most with sweeby's, and I also like his suggestions for alternate configurations.

Late to the game but would echo the Waterlox idea. We have BB counters at the lake and have "experimented" with multiple finishes: 1) Our first try was satin urethane. Bulletproof, no maintenance, but even satin has the very glossy look of "plastic" and would seem to defeat the whole purpose of using reclaimed wood. Even on our BB counters it screams "fake" and I hated it. 2) Next, we went traditional with mineral oil. A huge PITA. Applied many many coats, laboriously worked them in, and the counter still stained at the first hint of wine, strawberries, grease etc. We also had some delamination which required repair, and I think that was in part due to the poor water repellency of the MO. I considered the beeswax/mineral oil approach but still felt it would be way too much trouble for less than ideal protection. I'd be even more concerned if we had used more "delicate" wood like yours as opposed to generic BB. 3) My "light bulb went off" moment. We had already done our floors in Waterlox and loved the look--totally natural wood with none of the plastic appearance of urethane. It's been four years and they are holding up great. Checked to confirm it was food safe and, having done so, sanded away and then used it on the counters. They look great and are totally stain repellent. Water beads up, unlike with MO. If you use the Satin finish after the initial coats of Sealer the final result will be quite matte. Waterlox is polymerized tung oil. It maintains many of the advantages of pure tung oil but to quote my definitive expert source (see below): "Polymerized tung and linseed oils dry faster, harder and are more durable than raw oils." Pure tung can take days to weeks to dry between coats. We didn't have that kind of time. And, on the subject of mineral oil: "Mineral oil is recommended for cutting boards. MO will not cure as it is a non-drying oil and will continually leach out with every washing, requiring periodic reapplication. It will also leave a mess on your countertops if you apply too much Ick! The problem with cutting boards is that you cut on them, so any type of film finish is pretty much out of the question." I do not cut directly on the BB counters. I'm careful to use cutting boards, mainly for sanitation purposes (I can throw them in the DW, as opposed to having to try and scrub down countertops after raw meat exposure, for example). Therefore a film-forming finish like tung makes sense for my purposes. BTW: I have been cautioned rightfully in the past to warn folks with nut allergies that there is at least a theoretical risk of reaction to tung oil based products including Waterlox. Though, as I said then, given the consumption of peanut butter in our household, anyone with a real allergy would anaphylax just walking into the kitchen. Here's my source: Incredibly detailed, extremely useful discussion by SteveRussel of oil finishes for wood