Background

A good friend recently acquired an office space that included a big ol' blank wall opposite his desk, and he wanted to fill it with cabinets, shelves, and art! He wanted to put in a wet bar and wine fridge on the shorter wall, and had already purchased the TV so the shelving had to be spaced around it.

Getting To Work

I worked with my friend to come up with a design for the space, figure out hardware, fixtures, lighting and our rough timeline. After marking the layout on each wall I started installing the cabinets, which were prebuilt 30"x30" wall cabinets, and since those don't have a toekick I had to build a baseframe that was only 27" deep, which would create a 3" toekick when the cabinets were placed on top. Next came the floating shelves, which were made with 3/4" birch plywood, edge banded and pre-drilled for the circular LED lights that would later be installed. I was concerned about the stability of the 'mega-shelf' above the TV, which was almost 10' long and built in two sections due to the plywood I used only coming in 8' lengths. Fortunately the floating shelf hardware is super strong, which combined with heavy duty construction adhesive ensured these shelves weren't going anywhere. Each shelf had to be pre-wired for LED lights and pre-painted (for convenience) before they were installed, so extra care was taken during installation.

Next came the "Wine Wall", which consisted of a prebuilt bathroom vanity that I modified to the correct height and depth, as well as a 24" wine fridge that had an option for panel doors, which I made out of 1x4 poplar. The biggest challenge here was getting both components fully level and plum to the other cabinets so that the desktop installation would as smooth as possibly. Speaking of which, the countertop was made from live-edge hard maple that consisted of edge pieces (with the live edge on one side) and full pieces with finished edges on both sides. The boards were secured together with dowels, wood glue and pocket screws, and finished with Arm-R-Seal topcoat. The most nerve-wracking part of this whole project was cutting into this huge chunk of maple to make holes for the sink, faucet and glass cleaner - no mistakes allowed here! Luckily everything went smoothly and the fixtures were magically hooked up by the time I returned the following week!

Finally it was time to paint everything, install the cabinet hardware and wine racks, wire up the LED lights and clean up the space. This can be the most tedious part, especially the painting, but it is by far the most satisfying as well.

The Result

A gorgeous and functional space where you can watch the news while you work and unwind with a beverage at the end of the day. The champagne bronze door + drawer pulls look fantastic against the Adirondack Blue finish, and the under-shelf lights are a refreshing change from the usual LED strips. The client was thrilled with the final result, especially the amount of space for two of his biggest loves: art and wine. This project was a lot of fun, challenging at times, but very satisfying to see come together. Please reach out with any questions or inquiries!