If you build it, they will come...over for drinks

We have a huge kitchen island in our house that takes care of all our dining needs. In our home, it didn't make sense for us to have a separate formal dining room. We are always eating at the island and we are not formal dinner party people. I really feel style and decor should be based off function and needs of the people in the living room. In our case, it made most sense to have a large bar area and entertainment space. Cocktail hour followed by poker night, anyone?

Before: This was a pretty simple plan. I would build two shelve units that would house a small counter with storage in between it. There would be plenty of room for drinks (lots of drinks, haha), glassware and other miscellaneous bar ware.

Bar in progress: Since I was adding a backing, I decided to use two pictures I already had around the house for a back splash effect. 

Bar in progress: I decided to add shelves above the counter. More storage for drinks :-)

After: I added trim, two coats of Minwax Ebony stain and one coat of semi-gloss polyurethane.  The center storage unit has plenty of counter top space for drinks and our mini kegerator. There is also plenty of room inside to hold various party supplies (appetizer plates, extra glasses and two huge beverage tubs). The shelf unit on the left has a dedicated space for our new wine refrigerator ($148 on sale at Home Depot this week). I also left a dedicated space in the other shelf unit for our future  cooler or another wine rack.



 
No bar is complete without a game table. This is a 3-in-1 game table that has a removable dining table top to reveal bumper pool. The dining table top can also be flipped over for poker night. I found this gem on Craigslist for $150.