We started this DIY project in February 2017 and finally finished it in December 2017!! It turned out beautiful and we are so proud of our labor of love. I’ve already posted most of these pictures, but I wanted to show the project from start to finish all in one place. If you only want to see the remaining 28 pictures that you haven’t seen, then just scroll down to the end of the page.
BEFORE AFTER
We have a closet behind our wet bar and we just have extra beverages stored in it. We really don’t need a “closet” so we decided to make it an extension of the bar area.
First thing was to install electrical for the wine refrigerator (which was given to us), under counter lighting, and outlets for plugging things in.
Next, we removed the baseboards and door frame.
We installed the archway and the drywall.
We then installed the dry wall bead and started mudding. Little did we know what we were getting in to and the problems that it led to. The problem is the opening at the top is very small, therefore we really had to bend the bead to follow the arch. Hence, the bead slats were popping out and showing every little uneven bend. We actually had to staple down the edges all the way around the beaded arch.
Dry wall work is VERY messy, from the mud to the terrible dust. We’ve been at this for over 2 months due to being out of town so much and attending to other projects and life in general. Our house is a mess, but we WILL finish this damn project!!! I will publish more pictures in future blog updates, so stay tuned.
We started the bar closet project in February and due to major problems with the doorway arch, that really set us back. Then we had so much on our plate, that we could only work on it a little here and a little there. But finally, we are happy to report that we’re almost done!! The counter top will be installed this week and then we will look for the glass tile backsplash. Once we install the backsplash… we are done!! It will be time for some champagne to celebrate!!
Finishing up the knock down texture spray & painting
Our wonderful neighbor Leo offered to help us apply the knock down texture spray (since we had no idea what we were doing). It’s a very long process, spray, let it dry, sand and you do that coat after coat until you got it where you want it. A professional would have done it in a couple of hours and be done with it… next time we’ll hire someone to do it!!!!!!! But after all, this is about doing it yourself, saving a ton of money, and having the satisfaction that we did it ourselves.
Our house was a mess and very dusty for a long time.
We had to paint that whole wall so the color would match.
Now the fun part begins – Installing the cabinets
We found these great discontinued cabinets at Lowe’s and they were under $200 (for 4) out the door. They just happened to be the same color as our existing cabinets and with a similar door design. We added knobs and drawer handles that match our existing hardware.
Hank installed lighting under the upper cabinets.
Then came the installation.
All the pieces were cut, sanded, stained, & 2 coats of varnish applied. This also is a very long process due to the drying time and sanding between coats.
These sections are for wine bottles.
This is the trim for the sections.
This is the beginning of a wine rack which is installed between the upper cabinets.
More trim, kick plates, and top molding.
Adding the molding on top finished it off.
We installed a wine refrigerator (that was given to us) between the 2 lower cabinets. Just waiting for the countertop to arrive!
Finding a countertop to match at a reasonable price was a real effort and took us weeks of search. We talked to lots of people and went to over a dozen places. We were only looking for remnants because of the high cost of slabs. The quotes were all over the board, but we ended up getting 2 pieces for almost half the cost of the most expensive quote. We found a pattern that we think should tie in nicely. 
These are the final 28 photos!!
Next 2 photos: upper & lower cabinets and wine refrigerator have been installed.
Preparation work (protecting the walls) for the installation of the counter top.
The counter top was just a little too long, so they had to grind it down… very messy job!
The counter was very heavy, but these guys did a great job with the installation and maneuvering it into this small space.
The tile sheets were 12” x 12” with a random pattern. We laid out the tile and numbered each sheet so we could get the pattern we wanted.
Cutting glass tile is a real art and we learned as we went along. Overall it turned out really good. A great big HUGE thank you to Leo, again, for all his help and using his equipment!
We were scared to death because we had never laid tile before, but it went good, thank goodness!
Final product before decorations
This is what my craft room looked like as I was designing the flower arrangement for the top of the bar… what a mess! I used decor, flowers & greenery that I already had around the house. The only thing I bought was the poster, which I cut down to fit in the frame I already had.
There’s a dome light in the ceiling if we want more light, but we also wanted to add mood lighting on the top of the cabinet.
We were shopping around for mood lighting but thought we could get that look without the cost. So we had this great idea to put a string of 100 clear Christmas lights up there (which we already had) and voila… perfect mood lighting!! 
We also had a countertop fabricated for the desk in the kitchen. We took off the wooden top and will save it in hopes to use it as a shelf in the TV alcove area.
BEFORE
AFTER
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