Bar Closet Building – Day One
Have we mentioned how excited we are that we were asked to create a bar space in someone else’s closet? As in, someone else that we didn’t even know?
Here is how it all started. Way back when I climbed up into our own living room closet-turned-bar in order to paint some stripes on the walls.
My new friend Anna saw said shenanigans and decided to leave a little comment. Just enough to peak my interest.
After several e-mails and a visit to Anna’s casa we were in. Here is what it was looking like.
Our first step in the entire process was to find out exactly what Anna and her husband Jeb were looking for. This closet is in a room with a tv and a pool table so they were just looking for a nice little nook to keep the mini fridge and some adult beverages. Storage for board games and other items was also something they were looking for. Right now the standard closet set up was just not working for them.
They liked the way our bar closet was done with a painted cabinet below, open shelving above and a tile countertop and backsplash. Simple enough right?
Well after taking some measurements, we pretty quickly discovered that this 22″ deep closet would not be able to accomodate lower cabinets like our 36″ deep closet could. Okay, so we could have installed lower cabinets but opening the doors could have been tricky in parts. Darn doors.
This led to a slightly more elaborate plan of building custom shelving, to include space for the mini fridge. This is where the previously mentioned sweat fest began. You see we rig build things for ourselves all the time but this was for someone else. The stakes are quite a bit higher. Looking back on it all the easy way out could have been to install a cabinet but just remove the doors for the look of open shelving. Live and learn.
Luckily Anna and her husband Jeb are a super nice and very understanding couple who were looking for someone just like us to DIY their closet rather than come in and charge them a million dollars for professional contracting. This is good because professionals we are not.
As evidenced by my really coherent and well-designed planning notes.
And my uber-organized shopping list.
I promise it all felt more in check than these documents would lead you to believe.
Here was the plan for how it would all go:
1. Remove the existing wire closet shelf.
2. Fill in the door hinge marks.
3. Remove the old door magnets and fill in marks in door frame.
4. Remove the old baseboards from the back and right side wall. Reattach them at the end of the project.
5. Pull back the carpet, and cut and reattach it where needed.
6. Fill in the screw holes on the wall left behind from the old wire shelf and touch up the paint where needed.
7. Build base of bottom shelves with 2×4 studs.
8. Build a shelving unit on top of and around the studs using 2′ x 4′ handy boards from Lowes.
9. Prime and paint these lower shelves.
10. Tile the countertop and backsplash.
11. Hang two wall shelves, stemware holders and artwork.
12. Paint shelves and brackets.
13. Caulk and touch up the entire project.
14. Add Accessories and photograph.
15. Nap.
Some of this grand scheme worked while other items on the list were definite road blocks. All in all it took us two full days to complete the work and I’ll be headed back another night sometime soon just to do a couple of touch ups.
We accomplished the following on Saturday:
1. Remove the existing wire closet shelf.
2. Fill in the door hinge marks.
3. Remove the old door magnets and fill in marks in door frame.
4. Remove the old baseboards from the back and right side wall. Reattach them at the end of the project. DID NOT WORK! THAT STUFF WASN’T GOING ANYWHERE SO WE BUILT ON TOP OF IT.
5. Pull back the carpet, and cut and reattach it where needed. SEE NUMBER FOUR.
6. Fill in the screw holes on the wall left behind from the old wire shelf and touch up the paint where needed. WE ENDED UP REPAINTING THE ENTIRE INSIDE WALL OF THE CLOSET AFTER DISCOVERING OUR TOUCH UP PAINT WAS NOT THE SAME COLOR AS THE ORIGINAL INSIDE WALLS OF THE CLOSET. IT LOOKS WAY BETTER THOUGH SO THIS WAS A GOOD HICCUP.
7. Build base of bottom shelves with 2×4 studs. SANITY SAVING TIP: DRILL PILOT HOLES. YOU MIGHT NOT KILL YOURSELF OR YOUR WORK PARTNER IF YOU TAKE THIS ADVICE.
8. Build a shelving unit on top of and around the studs using 2′ x 4′ handy boards from Lowes.
9. Prime and paint these lower shelves.
10. Tile the countertop and backsplash.
11. Hang two wall shelves, stemware holders and artwork.
12. Paint shelves and brackets.
13. Caulk and touch up the entire project.
14. Add Accessories and photograph.
15. Nap.
All in all it wasn’t too bad for the first day’s work. Especially since a few things didn’t go as planned. A la HGTV style, here is how things look after night one.
This is the part where we look dramatically into the camera and confess about how tired we are and how many things that we still have to get done and how we don’t know if we’ll be able to finish in time tomorrow. You -the viewer- will be nervous for us.
Don’t worry though, we know how it ends. It will be okay.
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I just have to say- You are my hero.
Ha, you are too kind!