DIY Built-In Bar Storage: The Reveal
This is the final reveal of a four-part DIY series. Don’t forget to check out parts, one, two, three, four, and our overall bar cabinet plan.
It’s done! We officially have a brand new storage area, which means we can finally (kind of) clean off the kitchen counters! If you haven’t already, check out our original plan to turn 10 inches of wasted space in our dining room into 20 square feet of usable storage here. And make sure you read to the end to see what else we’ve got planned around here, my favorite cocktail recipe and Nick’s whiskey recommendations, plus how you could get a similar-looking bar cabinet of your very own.
As a quick reminder, here’s how our dining room has changed over the years:
And here’s what this room looked like after we first finished the new storage cabinet and wallpapered the wall:
BAM!
You probably already know by now this gal LOVES combining form and function. I love pretty things and am all about some art for arts sake, but as a designer if it doesn’t function it just falls a little short for me sometimes. I’m always so happy when we can magically find additional storage space out of no where, and bonus points when it’s attractive.
If you haven’t already, Check out our detailed how-to posts for this project:
Alright, now let’s look at the pretty final photos!
Something about this new addition makes this area just feel so adult and bougie to me. Not that it was a total mess before since we’d already done the modern square wainscoting, but now it just feels so much more elevated, and I am totally here for it.
Now let’s look inside!
We store a combination of items in here – obviously liquor and liqueur bottles, but also our glassware and barware, cocktail shaker, bar tools, recipe books, and (not pictured here) our shot glasses.
As you can see, we chose not to put a back on our cabinet because the cabinet was already so shallow, so you can see the textured wall (painted the same color as the cabinet) inside the cabinet. The photos really seemed to pick up every. little. bump. on the wall and make them look monstrously huge. It does not look near this textured in real life.
The details
Of course this makes me want to put wallpaper – like, everywhere – and do something new and fancy all over the house now. (Anyone else’s project list grow exponentially faster than they have time or budget??)
Next steps for the dining room
Next on the list for this area is getting our artwork sorted out. You may have noticed a subtle difference in the photo below vs. the first photo in this post…
Since we went with this beautiful metallic grasscloth wallpaper, we installed a wooden picture rail along the ceiling so we don’t have to knock holes into the wallpaper when we hang art. The white picture frames previously on the wall (that contrasted nicely against the wall back when it was painted dark charcoal gray) now look washed out and bland against the lighter tones of the wallpaper, so they also got a bit of a mini makeover in the interim.
Because of that and after casually leaning a bunch of things against the wallpaper to test colors, I’m kind of leaning toward dark gold and/or warm wood-toned frames, but haven’t decided if we should keep the clean 2x3 gridded feel we had before, go with a simple line of 3 same-size frames, change it up to a more eclectic collected vibe with frames that go but don’t identically match, or do something entirely different that’s none of those. Decisions, decisions.
Oh, and even though we’ve just completed it in real life, coming up on the blog for this space is how we added our motion-activated interior cabinet lighting, installed our wallpaper and how we added the crown molding-like picture rail.
Next steps for the kitchen
I know it’s not the same room technically, but I mention the kitchen since it still is kind of in the dining room, and (because of this project) is now literally physically tied to it … at least enough that it needs some more love now too.
Coming up for this room I’ll be sharing our newly-built custom built-in wine rack (seen in the background here) – sort of a sister project to this dining room bar that makes the kitchen feel so much taller – and at some point when we can get our hands on it (because of the paint shortage … thanks, COVID), we’ll be painting all of our kitchen cabinets to match the moody green dining room bar and currently-painted wine rack and upper cabinet extension. Oh and we maybe also will be trying our hand at installing recessed ceiling lights (replacing the big box light) in here … and then also throughout the whole house.
Scope creep, y’all.
Our favorite drinks
And because we’ve done a whole multi-post series on building a home bar cabinet, I figure it’s only fitting to leave you with my favorite hand-crafted cocktail recipe, plus some of Nick’s favorite whiskey recommendations right now.
My favorite cocktail
Let’s call it The Lone Oak Sour. This is a fabulously impressive-looking, uniquely-tasting gin cocktail that I first had out at a swanky bar and recreated at home, and it’s perfect for folks who don’t like gin. Not to say you won’t like it if you do like gin, but just know it does not taste like you licked a cedar tree, AKA juniper. Forewarning: it’s got some steps to it, including a technique called the reverse dry shake, but it is oh so worth the extra effort in my opinion that almost makes staying home feel extra luxurious – even if you’re doing happy hour in your jammies – and looks impressive as heck if you’ve got guests over. (A note about the egg white – it doesn’t make it taste weird or anything, but it does give the drink such a beautiful velvety smooth texture. If you’re looking for a vegan-alternative to egg white, try aquafaba instead.)
Ingredients
1 egg white
3/4 oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 oz. vanilla simple syrup
1-3/4 oz. Empress 1908 Gin
1/4 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
2 droppers peach liqueur – (I use Drillaud Crème de Pêche that I poured into a dropper bottle for more control.)
3-5 drops Bittercube Orange Bitters
Optional garnish: Float a dried orange or lemon slice on top
Directions
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all ingredients to the shaker in the order above. Shake until the shaker is ice cold and the outside is frosty. Strain into an extra glass. Discard the ice from the shaker and return the strained liquid to the shaker. Shake for another 20-30 seconds. Pour into a coupe glass (no need to strain it again).
Nick’s whiskey recommendations
A much shorter and easier list, Nick has turned into somewhat of a whiskey connoisseur over the course of the pandemic. Here are some of his favorites at the moment and his very brief thoughts on each. (What can I say, I’m clearly the talker/detail giver in this relationship.)
He prefers to drink each of these neat, meaning straight and without ice.
Bourbon – Blade and Bow
Nick’s Notes: An easy-to-find daily sipper that’s good to drink any time of year. Tastes similar to the pricier Blanton’s.
Rye – Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye
Nick’s Notes: A good winter whiskey, with “kind of an oaky taste”.
Specialty (that happens to be a bourbon) – Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel
Nick’s Notes: Sweet. A good after-dinner whiskey. Kind of “s’mores-ey”, making it great for fall and winter months.
(Though I personally can throw down on a s’more any day of year.)
Get the look
You can find all of the build materials in each of the how-to posts linked toward the top of this post. Here’s where we found some of the prettier and styling elements found in this space:
Bar + column paint color: Sherwin Williams Jasper (SW 6216); Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel in semi-gloss finish.
Brass cabinet pulls – we used the 3.78” length
Metallic grasscloth wallpaper – I love this so much. It’s a kind of chunky natural grasscloth woven over a silver metallic paper background. It’s the perfect marriage of natural and fancy and bounces light, plus it’s a thicker paper so it really hides the bumpy orange peel wall texture well.
Picture rail system – we’ll share more on the install, stain, etc. later!
Gold photo frames – these were our original white IKEA Ribba frames* that I’ve doctored up with some gold. Tutorial (including a good old fashioned fail) is coming!
Glassware:
Quinn Rose Coupe Glasses by Caskata – these are one of my most favorite adult things I’ve ever splurged on. They’re delicate, fluted glasses that are each mouth-blown by Czech artisans, which (being of Czech decent) of course I had to have, and the shape makes them perfect for a multitude of cocktails, cutting down on the amount of glassware I need in my cabinet. (In addition to being used for chilled ice-free cocktails, they double as a less-shaky martini glass and are the original champagne flute.)
Crystal glasses – super heavy and great quality
Rustic Wood Baguette Dough Bowl – love this hand-carved bowl and extra love it’s from a small family-run company here in Texas.
Plant – it’s a Ficus Ginseng I found at our local Lowes. I’m notoriously awful at keeping plants alive, but somehow this cool little plant has thrived here on the bar.
Chandelier* – we custom-made this one too, kind of. (It’s the original builder light that came with the house – I spray painted it dark and then I created the outer orb using rope and the largest wooden embroidery hoops I could find!)
Dining table* – we custom-made this one. It’s actually our first-ever build and was based on a Restoration Hardware table we loved.
Large glass table vase – found at Hobby Lobby forever ago. (The lambs ear vase filler, too!)
Area rug – yes, we had to get a new rug because SOMEONE (okay, it was me) spilled a huge puddle of green paint all over the old rug*. #HappyAccidents (This one is the “Vicksburg” rug.)
Velvet dining room chairs* – found at World Market many many many years ago.
Gray curtains* – found at IKEA years ago.
*For some of the handmade or older pieces, check out this post for some look-alike alternatives!
We know we are loving the look and function of the new cabinet, but what’s your favorite part of our dining room? And are you team gridded frames or different-size, eclectic artwork? Should we do something else we haven’t even thought of?
We’d love to hear about it all in the comments below. Cheers, y’all!
Bonus!
If you love our custom built-in bar cabinet but don’t plan on building one yourself, we have something that may interest you. Since we finished our built-in, we’ve created a one-of-a-kind standalone bar cabinet inspired by our built-in that is looking for a good home.
If you would like to buy this bar cabinet for your home (or as a gift for someone else!), check it out using the button below.
Something new on the way
We’ll also be launching a new online store soon where you’ll be able to shop a collection of original Lone Oak Design Co. pieces, such as art and the cabinet above, plus a curated selection of our favorites for the camper and our home!