Reclaimed Wood Bar

After tearing out the wall dividing our kitchen and dining rooms, we decided to install a bar. We used some reclaimed fence panels to hide the studs we engineered to support our bar. We had our stud supports done for a few days and were looking for something that would flow with the house and it's 1920's features. We searched online looking for live edge wood or some kind of natural stone. The garage felt like it had been a catch-all for whatever historic pieces the original owners salvaged from the hotel but didn't fit into the initial design of the house. We realized we had a workbench in the garage made of wood from the same era - or at least looked like it. We decided a much better purpose for that wood was our new bar. 

When we measured it, it was actually the right depth. We decided to keep the length as well and let one end float. We carefully removed it and cleaned it. Then we set it in place to become our new bar. The dark wood perfectly matched the butler's pantry that stretched from the dining room into the kitchen.

After we installed the bar, we had to take care of the wires hanging from the ceiling. On the coast, you don't have a crawl space, so wires only come from the attic. We decided we could build columns to house the wires.  A faux beam at the top of the bar allowed us to run the wire vertically and all of this kept the look of an old world space. Luckily, our wires had enough length in the ceiling that we could do this with no rewiring. We had to move one outlet further down in order to accomplish this but no electrical skills were required. 

She just realized I was watching her. This shows the faux beam we installed to hold the wires.

The wood we used for the bar was heavy enough that it didn't really need any supports. The faux beams also helped to secure it in place. Initially, the wall between the rooms was adorned with wrought iron from the old hotel. 

We decided to repurpose those as decorative supports for the bar. 

Our house has a Spanish villa feel. I really wanted to replicate the look of the bar at the Parador de Mérida, a monastery-turned-hotel in Mérida, Spain.

I think it turned out amazing! I just need to add the iron scrolls back and find some different bar chairs.