A Bar is Born

Goodbye to the wasted space in my kitchen…

Hello to our new bar!

We had this small area in our kitchen that made no sense.  It sits between the door to the garage (left) and a big, bulky pantry (right).  86″ wide x 36″ deep.  I have shoved a variety of things in here over the years.  First, a loveseat.  Then, two small club chairs and lastly a desk that nobody EVER used.

  
I am not sure what gave me the idea to make it into a bar.  But, once I did, there was no stopping me.

I called my favorite contractor, David Anspach, and had him come over so we could sketch this out.  We agreed on two lower cabinets with a 24″ wine refrigerator in the middle.  Two upper cabinets with seeded glass and a stone countertop.

David puts up with me because as soon as we designed it, I wanted it done yesterday !

  
I had to decide on a backsplash (I wanted wallpaper), a paint color for the cabinets and what stone we would use for the top.

We ordered a Whirlpool 24″ wine refrigerator.  It has dual temperature control for red and white and holds 48 bottles of wine.

I had David center the upper cabinets (not smart) and we ended up moving them flush against the walls.  Tim Dowling caught that one.

Farrow & Ball paint chips and an early wallpaper sample.

I chose Phillip Jeffries wallpaper for the wall behind the bar.  Braided Walls, color #3146 Almond.  For the cabinets, Farrow & Ball #226, Joa’s White.  I wanted a white quartzite (above) for the counter top, but… the price was more than my budget.  I went with a honed Carrara marble from Rye Marble.  We had two 30″ x 30″ pieces cut from the same slab for new tables across from the bar.

Upper cabinets moved.  All doors off, including pantry doors, to be painted.

  
Carrara marble countertop in!

Time for the doors, knobs and wallpaper.

Cabinets painted and the last of the doors going on.

Wallpaper going up.

Schwinn stainless pulls #51475

Knobs on.  Seeded glass is great because you can’t see how messy the inside of the cabinets are!

Wallpaper as the backsplash.  Love the texture against the cool marble.

Everything done, except for my Restoration Hardware Grand Edison sconce and the undercounter lights.

Finished!

View across banquette and new marble tables

We used the two 30″ x 30″ pieces of marble for tables across from the bar (see here) and are now ready for a party!

the wry home