Saturday, February 9, 2013

Wine Cabinet Bar Project

Wine Cabinet Bar

Our newest project was a lot of fun (and hard work).  I’ve had the idea many months ago to create a wine cabinet/bar for our dining room.  I was hoping to add storage and get organized, as well as tackle on the project of refurbishing a piece of furniture.  Justin and I went to a thrift store to find our future wine cabinet bar.


Materials

Cabinet (we used an old entertainment center) - only $40 - A STEAL!
Oak Sheet Wood cut into desired sizes (shelves, drawer, and sliding bar for wine aerator)
Crown molding pieces
Rubber tubing
Fiberboard (for the backing)
Sandpaper (Grit #80, #150, #320)
Rustoleum brand primer (grey) – 1 quart
Rustoleum brand paint (espresso) – 2 quarts
Small paint roller
Small paint brush
Sliding tracks (16 in.) – (used for the drawer and the sliding bar for wine aerator)
Small corner brackets
Wood screws
Nails
Small doorknobs
Drawer handles
Circular saw 

After looking at a couple stores, we finally found this one- an old entertainment center.  We planned to utilize the large space in the middle by incorporating our wine fridge as part of the piece.





To add storage, we built a drawers and shelves from scratch.  To do this, we bought a sheet of wood and cut the pieces to their desired size.

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Tracks were attached to the bottom of the drawer.
Carefully, we installed the drawer on to the main piece.



Using the same sheet of wood from which we cut the drawer pieces, we also had pieces cut for shelving in the space above the drawers and within the glass cabinet. 




For one of the shelves in the cabinet, we created a glass stemware holder.  To do this, we screwed down crown molding and a rubber tube (to angle the stemware holders) to the shelf.


Now on to priming…


We first sanded the entire piece of furniture along with the cut wood and fiberboard with grit #80 sandpaper, and wiped it down with a wet towel.  Then, we added a coat of primer.  We let it air dry for at least 24 hours.  All the pieces were sanded again with grit #150 sandpaper.  


 The Painting Process…


We added our first coat of paint (we chose an espresso color), let it dry for 24 hours, and then lightly sanded it down again with grit #320 sandpaper. 

             



Finally we added our last coat of paint (and let dry for 48 hours)!



 We re-installed all the shelves and doors carefully and re-touched any areas that got scratched during the re-installation process.  For the backing, we used a circular saw to cut the section where our wine fridge would sit.  Then we nailed the backing on to the main piece.  We also added wheels to the bottom of the piece to make it easier to maneuver.



Where's Justin?




Finally… we added all our glasses and stemware. 

 


There is a custom made sliding bar/shelf for our wine aerator.  The wine fridge fits perfectly on the shelf, and the glasses standout. 






Our beautiful wine cabinet is displayed in our dining room, and it turned out exactly as we envisioned.  It’s a great conversation piece and we had a great time designing and building it!