Our Bar Update

You have all heard this saying I am sure:  “The (fill in the decade here) called, and they want their (fill in the item here) back.  Well, in our case, “The 80’s called, and they wanted their bar back.”

 

 (Before)

Here is a bad photo of what it looked like when we toured the townhouse for the first time before buying it.  It was complete with orange formica.  If that doesn’t say the 80’s, then I don’t know what does.

 

 (Before)

When we remodeled, we switched out the formica for honed black granite which we used on the countertops in our bathrooms, too.  We also painted just the bar walls a deep yellow to match up with the art that was on the opposite wall.

 

(Before)

Even with the improvements, though, I was never happy with the glass shelves that rested on metal brackets.  I even etched a mirror to try to draw attention away from that bad contemporary look.  It didn’t work.  I also over-accessorized in hopes that would keep me and others from looking at the shelves.  That didn’t help either.  Plus, I was concerned that someone might accidentally bump a shelf when reaching for a glass, and it would come crashing down.  Thankfully, there were no crashes.

 

Finally, I decided enough was enough.  I could do this.  With Mr. Autumn’s assistance, I could make a change, and create a bar area that looks as if it belongs in our house.  First, I removed the brackets and shelves and donated them to the Restore.

 

Then I patched the holes, touched up the yellow paint and added a stencil to the side walls only.  The ceiling part of it is still plain yellow.  I questioned the stencil at first.  I thought it might look too country, but I decided that if when the whole process was finished and I still didn’t like it, it could easily be painted out in just a few minutes.

 

Next, I did the measuring, and then Mr. Autumn attached  floating shelves.  Originally, I thought I would use wrought iron brackets and white wooden shelves, but after purchasing the brackets, I decided it was too small a space for so many brackets.  It would have been visually noisy.

 

Even after the walls were stenciled and the shelves were hung, we still had one-inch gaps where the mirror brackets had been.

 

I bought mouldling, had it cut to size, painted it white like the rest of our woodwork, and then glued it to the mirrors.  I used tape to hold the moulding till the glue dried.

 

 This is how it all turned out.  Taking photos is very difficult with all of the mirrors.  To downplay some of the mirrors, I hung my the French photos I took on the two side panels.  I’ll show you how I updated them next week.

 

Without the shelves on the mirror, the space seems so much larger.  The mouldings cover  the gaps nicely.

 

I love the mix of black and white stripes on the photo mats, the yellow stenciled wall, and the gingham checked lamp shade.  It definitely looks as if the bar now belongs here.

 

The best thing of all about our bar, which is located in our foyer hallway, is that it becomes totally hidden when we close the doors.  I think we need to do a little entertaining so we can enjoy our updated space.

 

 

Take care.

Linking to www.savvysouthernstyle.net for Wow Us Wednesday and