I have more of the leveling, grading, and sinkhole saga coming to you soon, but I also promised another sneak peek this week, so I wanted to go ahead and show you something I'm installing in the kitchen:
It's a wall-mounted breakfast bar! Or, well, it's really just IKEA shelf brackets that I spray painted black, along with some leftover butcher block from the kitchen renovation mounted on top. Still, if it all goes to plan, it's going to be a nice little spot for my morning coffee (I haven't even routed or screwed the thing in yet, but I've already been drinking my coffee here all week… so you could say the dry run went well enough to proceed).
So far, everything is exactly level, according to that giant level that I believe used to be my grandfather's. I think it's kind of cool to use things like this that were handed down over the years, especially since he passed away before I ever bought this house or began my renovation/blog journey (and considering how close he and I were and how much he liked to tinker with things, he probably would have been the biggest supporter if he'd been alive to see it). So, it's just kind of nice to have a piece of him around.
I still have to route the edge, install a third shelf support (I would have done so already, but I needed to pick up a few more wall anchors since this one isn't going into a stud), and treat the butcher block like I did with the rest of the kitchen, but I think it's a perfect use for this wall. The patio and backyard are to the right in front of this area and the dining room is just behind it, so it felt too cramped to put another table and chairs here. Instead, a more casual setup with some industrial bar stools (you can see a peek in the pic above, but I'll share more on those next week) and a narrow counter will work well. Then, it'll be time to add some art above, and I've already got a plan for that too!
At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep the height the same as the rest of the counters in the kitchen (roughly 36″), but when I tried out the first bracket, it just felt too low, so I raised it to standard bar height (usually between 40″ and 42″). This feels much more appropriate for the space, and the shallow depth of the counter will allow me to set out platters and such but not get in the way of foot traffic going out to the back yard (keeping the entire space designed for casual entertaining). I cut the remaining piece of butcher block that I had been storing in the garage to make it, and it's basically half the width of the counters (12″). I never wanted to get rid of the extra walnut if I could come up with a use for it, and I'm so glad I did!
This of course means I still have an identical strip at about the same length and width as this piece, but no plan yet for what to do with it. Feel free to suggest some ideas. I'm going to spend the rest of my afternoon outside though, as I've got more of the backyard transformation to take place and I just heard a loud pop of a fuse outside (or the transformer blew), so my internet and power will be down for the rest of the day anyway (I'm guessing). Then, I'm going to actually get out of this house for a change and try to even out some of these weird tan lines I earned this week while on that backhoe.
So, about six things going on at once… kind of the UDH as usual! What are your weekend plans?
The post Installing a Kitchen Bar + Weekend Work appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.
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