The Bar

JT has been extraordinarily self-entertained the last few days building a Lego monstrosity called the "Combinatron 16,000." Sadly, the creation met an untimely death in the bottom of a cold, hard bathtub, but it gave me time to finish a project that was long overdue.

Over a year ago, a neighbor set a six-foot long base cabinet and its matching wall cabinet out on the sidewalk, free to a good home. My husband has been wanting a bar in the basement since we bought the house three years ago. I'm not sure why, since his idea of the perfect mixed drink is hot chocolate and Bailey's. Instead of going down to American Furniture Warehouse, plunking down $300, and getting a pine bar that matches our furniture, I decided to take this base cabinet and...dress it up.

First off, I had to chop several inches off the length. There's only one place we can really put it, and it would have blocked the path to the laundry area and bathroom. JT and I pried one side off, cut about fifteen inches off the top, front, and floor, and reattached the side. We also had to cut a few inches off the bottom, as much of the wood had rotted. Then I built up supports and put casters on the bottom in such a way that it's moderately easier to move the behemoth. The side that was cut from is no longer wide enough to fit the drawers, so I moved them under the left side drawers. The new plywood/backerboard top is screwed in from the bottom so the table top should come off from below. The steel kick-plate is roof flashing I'd used for a kitchen back splash in a previous house, and the paint's all left overs from living room. HD had a sale on slate tile, so a friend and I slathered on the thin-set and put them on.

And there it sat for half of forever. We used to have a real-live lumber yard when we lived here before, but it's gone as HDs and Lowes have sprung up in every neighborhood. I had to dig to find the red oak trim to match the original cabinet. Then I had to dig several months to find the motivation to put it on.

Two days ago, I did. Yesterday I went back and fixed one side, stained it, and grouted the tile. I still need to slather the trim with polyurethane, but it turned out kinda nice.

The slate and the trim. Next time, I need to use spacers between the tiles.

The finish was almond melamine. A strangely cheap-looking finish for a cabinet with oak trim and cool, retro hinges.

I didn't realize the trim reveal on the sides is different than that in the middle when I put in the back rail guide for the moved drawers. It makes them a little off, but the rail was so hard to get out and put back in that I left it. I had hoped to put a mini-fridge in the cubby on the right, but it's proving difficult to find one small enough to fit.

Long before the bar was finished, the wonderful guys who carried it into the basement also hung the wall cabs in the garage. I covered the melamine with garage floor paint I found in the oops rack, then a square of chalkboard paint.

One side holds saws and odds and ends. The other has bench stock (consumables like screws, nails, wood glue). The end got a bit of peg board for some of my g-pa's old tools.

Cool hinge.