Mini Bar Update
March 3, 2009 at 10:19 am (Projects) (advice, armoire, bar, beautiful, cabinet, change, decor, decorate, Dining room, diy, eclectic, help, hollywood, home, house, ideas, Inspiration, kitchen, maple, mini bar, modify, opinion, project, redo, regency, repurpose, restore, reuse, stain, stemware, TV, upcycle)
We have had the old TV armoire we found on Craigslist home for a couple of weeks now. I haven’t posted about it because we are having a change of heart. We had wanted to strip the wood and stain it black. But, when we got the cabinet home we thought it was so gorgeous we couldn’t bear to do that! I thought that going black and adding some shiny handles and mirrors would add some Hollywood Regency to the cabinet, more suiting it to become a mini bar. I just don’t know if we can bring ourselves to touch the beautiful wood. We did add a stemware rack to the top and filled it with our lovely bar glasses and goods. It is really gorgeous in our dining room, and it has already served it’s purpose. We do still plan on adding another shelf in glass and also a pull out shelf for more mixing and pouring space.
What do you think? Should we restain the cabinet black or leave it as it is?

You can't see it here because there is no stemware in it, but there is a clear stemware rack on the right side.
We really do need your advice, opinions and ideas!!
The Start Of A New Project
February 17, 2009 at 9:34 am (Projects) (antique, armoire, bar, black, cabinet, craigslist, eclectic, find, glamorous, help, hollywood regency, home, house, ideas, Inspiration, liquor, mini, minibar, paint, project, question, re-purpose, re-purposed, redo, repurpose, retro, TV, vintage)
The other day I wrote about how we wanted to make a mini bar area in our home. I showed pictures of other people’s re-purposed bar areas that we loved. But, after much discussion we decided we liked the look of a closed cabinet for this kind of thing a little better. With all of my inspiration in hand, I set out to plan my own mini bar project. Yes, we found the perfect (we hope!) cabinet for the job! A Craigslist post led us to the Maple TV Cabinet.
I see much potential in the armoire! (We don’t actually pick it up until Thursday.) I plan on first painting it a high gloss black. The back inside of the cabinet with be lined with mirror and wine and stemware racks will be hung from the inside. The inside has one shelf, but we are guessing we will make a few new shelves from glass. I am going for a bit of Hollywood regency here. Overall, we think this beauty should have plenty of space for our entertainment needs!
We do have one small question, however. I think there needs to be a flat space large enough to mix the actual drinks incorporated into the cabinet somehow. I was wondering if the drawer could be used for that. It might be a bit too low to be comfortable, though. I was also wondering about making a sort of pull-out shelf inside the cabinet. Is this even possible? When I see the cabinet in person I will know if more space is necessary. Until then, does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?
We are very excited to get the project rolling, so stay tuned for updates!