Although it’s not really to my taste, my kitchen is still my favorite room in the house. I spend the majority of my time at home in my kitchen whether it be cooking, baking, crafting, designing, blogging…it’s the first place anyone comes looking for me.
So because a complete overhaul of a kitchen isn’t in the budget this Christmas, jazzing up a little corner of it is. At first glance there appears to be a lot of counter space yet the functionality of the room is poor and leaves little work-space when it comes to cooking. I am fortunate to have a large pantry which allows for lots of storage but it still wasn’t enough; I had to get some of the daily appliances off of the counter tops, specifically the coffee maker and grinder to free up some space. So I went on the hunt for the perfect coffee bar. It only took six months. Ha!
I went to a large antique store in Edmonton that had more junk I mean “treasures” than I was willing to sort through, but then I saw her. At the end of a long isle buried under old lamps and dusty trinkets was the new dwelling to my dark roasts and freshly grounds. This sideboard was coming home with me for $190! I ran to tell Aaron I found what I wanted, “do you want to come see it?” I said. His reply, “I don’t care, buy it!” (In his defense he had been dragged around for months looking for a piece of furniture he couldn’t care less about).
The before….dark and dreary.
The Coffee bar – the finished product
After some push came to shove we were able to fit it in the trunk and got it home. I knew as soon as I saw it I wasn’t going to be sanding the entire piece this time (I mean just look at those legs!) so I headed off to purchase paint and primer. After some trial and error and a few distressed phone calls to Dad I sanded the top and got a coat of Kilz Original primer on the bottom. The Kilz primer was absolutely necessary as the original stain and varnish was oil based so painting a latex primer over this caused the paint to separate and the old stain was bleeding through. Lesson learned. I stained the top with Minwax Weathered Oak Wood Finish that I had leftover from a previous project and painted the bottom with Behr Ultra Pure White paint. Prior to any priming and staining I removed the hardware and spray painted them black.
I have to admit, I did a very rushed job on this project which I don’t like to do but I was having some family come stay with me and wanted it to be in place when they arrived. All in all it still turned out beautifully.
The rack, hooks and baskets above the sideboard are from Ikea. The mugs I purchased from the local Fort Saskatchewan Pottery Guild and the fishing boat mug, my favorite, is from a gift shop called Two Macs in Margaree Cape Breton by the Halifax artist Bethany Butterworth at Bread at Butter Pottery. I have a sheep mug by the same artist on route this Christmas. Check them out, they’re some of my favorites.
Final result, I couldn’t love it more! Every morning I am greeted by this beautiful piece when I come downstairs to make coffee and I love that I have yet again another piece of furniture that no else has in their home. It is by far my favorite part of refurnishing furniture and this is my favorite project to date. Now I’m back on the hunt, this time for a coffee table, likely something I can put my own finishing touches on.
P.S….What does coffee say when it’s sad? Pour me….pour me!
No Comments