Ideas on remodeling a wetbar?

I currently have a wetbar in my family room which I want to use only as a liquor cabinet and could use some ideas.

It is situated in a corner with a sink and a 30" base cabinet with 13" side panels on either side made of white melamine. The countertop is formica with a tiled backsplash, above it mirrors. I want to remove the sink totally, remove the tiled backsplash and change the white melamine into a wood-look cabinet. I'm not sure if I should just paint over the white melamine to achieve the wood look or just replace the doors with actual wood.

Then there's the question of what to replace the formica countertop with. This is in my family room so I'd rather not have it look like a kitchen cabinet in my family room (like it does now).

Any suggestions are welcome!!! Thank you.

 

if i were you, i'd look around to get ideas. look in catalogs (like this ) and magazines, and decide what you want it to look like. to avoid a kitchen cabinet or bathroom vanity look, avoid any kind of plastic top. i think i'd lean more toward it looking like a piece of furniture, like a buffet, which means a fine wood top. talk to a custom cabinet guy and price what it would cost to re-do it. it needs to be pretty classy, since it's probably a focal point. don't even try to paint over melamine & think it'll look anything like wood. at the very least, replace the whole top with a new piece of wood with a nice edge detail and stained to match.

 

I have to agree with you Annette about painting the melamine. I've had my doubts about that all along. If I were to rebuild the cabinet by perhaps removing and replacing the doors and front panels with something unfinished and stain them(is it possible to even purchase unfinished cabinet doors?), do you think it would work if I painted just the frame since very little of it would show? One of the problems we face is that this would definitely have to be custom built because of the odd corner shape and we were hoping to do this ourselves.

Also, I'm at a loss about what I can do just above the countertop where the backsplash currently is. Once I remove the tile backsplash, I'll be left with a 13" gap between the countertop and the bottom of the mirror. Any ideas? Thanks again!

 

what style is your home decorated in? country/casual/contemporary/etc? there are so many options for doing this, i have to know what style you like before i could suggest anything.

 

The look I'm trying to achieve is a rustic, Tuscan look.

 

can you try to match it up with the kitchen cabinetry at all? or some other wood furniture in the room? coffee/end tables, etc?

are there shelves in front of the mirrors or what? do the mirrors have to stay? they probably won't go too well with the rustic, tuscan theme. and they'll seem more bar-like than liquor-cabinet-ish. can they come down?

 

You can replace the bar top yourself.

You will need 3/4 inch cabinet grade plywood for the underside.
Look in the yellow pages for a hardwood limber store. If there is a Paxton's Fine Woods in your town, go there. Buy 3/4 inch hardwood plywood in whatever wood you prefer.
Cut both to the same dimensions.
Glue them together with yellow wood glue (keeping the best hardwood side out).
Now cut 1-1/2 by 3/4 inch hardwood strips out of solid hardwood (same as the plywood). Glue these to the edge. A biscuit jointer works great in this situation!

Sand and stain. Topcoat with a good polyureathane. I like a spar urethane as it is tougher, stands upt to alcohol a little better.

Attach to the cabinets with screws.

 

Annette,
No there aren't any shelves in front of the mirrors. I think you're right in that it would be a good idea to remove them. I've never had any experience removing mirrors but I guess I can get some pointers on the Mirrors Forum. Hopefully, the tile backsplash and mirrors can be removed without having to replace the sheetrock.

 

Bob,

I like your idea about replacing the countertop.

Do you know if it's possible to purchase unfinished doors and panels for the front of this piece? If that's a possibility, I am then just left with painting the front of the frame a color to match the doors and panels.

Thanks again!

 

I don't know about buying unfinished doors and panels to match. That's not anything I've ever looked for. I googled and found several sites.

Do you have a router or know someone with a router? Since its going to be painted, you can buy 1x stock in the width you like. Route a 1/4 inch slot on one edge. Cut !/4 inch birch plywood to fit. Assemble and you're ready to go. This is a plain door, though. It will look like some of the examples in the websites found in the google above.

Fancier doors take a table saw and a little more time.

You can get ideas by looking at the diy carpentry books in the bookstore/library.