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. Â It sits between the door to the garage (left) and a big, bulky pantry (right). Â 86″ wide x 36″ deep. Â I have shoved a variety of things in here over the years. Â First, a loveseat. Â Then, two small club chairs and lastly a desk that nobody EVER used.
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I am not sure what gave me the idea to make it into a bar. Â 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. Â We agreed on two lower cabinets with a 24″ wine refrigerator in the middle. Â 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 !
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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. Â 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. Â 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. Â All doors off, including pantry doors, to be painted.
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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. Â Seeded glass is great because you can’t see how messy the inside of the cabinets are!
Wallpaper as the backsplash. Â Love the texture against the cool marble.
Everything done, except for my Restoration Hardware Grand Edison sconce and the undercounter lights.
Finished!
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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