Scavenger Chic

Wet Bar / Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

• By Joan
• September 3, 2020
• 4 Comments

Wet Bar / Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

I told you this project was coming a couple of weeks ago when I shared with you the wine cabinet makeover.  Well now we’re on to the kitchen cabinet.  A couple of alert readers noticed the creepy hand coming out of the rack.  I’m so used to that hand  being posed around my son’s house that I didn’t even notice it until they pointed it out to me.  It’s actually a poseable hand from IKEA, or as they call it, a handskalad.

A little background….middle son Kevin and his wife Mollie bought a 1980’s house which has not been updated since it was built. They are starting to tackle the house one room at a time and they’ve started with their living room which has a loft overhead.  You can’t really do one room without the other since all the walls are attached.  This cabinet/ wet bar is in the loft area.

I shared with you the wine rack makeover  2 weeks ago but today we’re working on the big cabinet below.  While the cabinet and sink are nice to have , my son and his wife were thinking it was kinda ugly and dated.

They really wanted to toss the thing.  Wait a sec.  It was a good size, it was made of solid wood and you’d have to deal with a hole in the carpet if you yanked it out besides the added expense of buying something new.

They liked the cabinet I had done in my kitchen, the black buffet with a wood countertop.  There was no reason we couldn’t get that same look here.  I don’t know if I convinced them, but what did they have to lose.

We started the makeover of the bottom part of the cabinet back in May.  Here we were experimenting on a couple of test drawers.

If you don’t have a slick finish on your furniture you can get away with painting chalk paint directly onto your piece without prep work.  That’s what we did here.  One to two coats of black chalk paint and for that time worn look, a light sanding on the edges of the drawers.

New handles and antique wax complete the look.  The chalk paint really highlights the existing details on the drawer fronts.

They liked the look, so full steam ahead.

One of my favorite places for knobs and handles is Hobby Lobby because of their huge variety. I can always find something that goes with my project and this time was no exception. The handles are the  brown cubic metal pulls and the knobs are the Square Metal Antique Knobs.  As always, wait until they go on sale to purchase any quantity, which I believe is every other week when they are half price.

We completed the bottom of the cabinet back in May and the top has been on my to do list ever since.

The green laminate top with the oak inlay edges really don’t  go well with the new cabinet.

To start the countertop I pulled this piece of 24″ wide, 1/2 inch plywood out of my garage.  I believe it was leftover from my harlequin diamond mirror project.  I will need the plywood to help hold the pieces of lumber together and to give the countertop strength when I do the cutout for the sink.

I’ve done two other wooden countertops and they pretty much all look the same but they are constructed just a little differently.  For my laundry room countertop, the top is constructed almost exactly the same but instead of a sheet of plywood underneath I used cross bracing to cut down on the weight on top of my laundry machines.

The kitchen buffet built in cabinet countertop is constructed with 2×8’s and a 2×10  attached with kreg jig screws with no need for underneath bracing.

For the countertop I needed 2, 1×2’s for the trim, 1, 1×4 a for the back splash,  2 1×8’s and 1, 1×10 for the countertop itself.  All were 6 foot lengths because my countertop measured only  62″.

However long you want your countertop to be, take that measurement and subtract 1 1/2 inches to allow for the side trim pieces.  Cut the 1×8’s and 1×10 to length.

Also cut your plywood backer board the same length as the 1×8’s and 1×10.

Use a generous layer of builders adhesive to attach those top countertop boards.

Lay the countertop boards on the plywood adding wood glue between the boards.

Clamp well, wipe off any excess glue and leave to dry overnight. 

If the boards are not sitting flat on the plywood, you may need to add something heavy on top to push it all together.

Miter the front corners of your 1×2 trim piece.  The back corner can be a straight cut.  You’re only adding the 1×2 trim to the front and sides of the countertop.

Use finish nails and wood glue the front and side trim pieces making sure the top edge is level.

Cut the 1×4 backsplash the exact length of your countertop.  Again, use finish nails and wood glue into place.

Sand any rough spots,  corners and sharp edges.

Stain the countertop the color of your choice.  This is Early American stain by Varathane.

Note:  If you get any wood glue on your countertop the stain will not take. You may notice that spot just below the paper towel and to the left of my hand.  You can either go back and sand that spot or touch up with a tiny bit of acrylic paint lightly painted over the spot.  Try to match the paint color as close as possible. Do this before the next step and you won’t notice your spot again. 

You could , at this point, add a couple coats of polyurethane or an oil finish.  I urge you to use what you have and to match the finishes in your house. Use polyurethane if you expect your countertop to get a lot of use.

What I am using is the same antique wax that I used over the chalk paint on the cabinet.  I don’t really care for the flat one dimensional wax so I like to spice it up with a couple drops of black paint.  Yes, I have used this technique over and over.  This is a liquid wax, not a paste, so it’s rather easy to paint on and rub off the excess with a rag.  Blend in the black paint with the rag as well.

I haven’t finished rubbing in that black paint.

Since this is a countertop, I gave the whole piece one last coat of clear wax.  The above picture is before I rubbed off the excess wax.  

Once dry, buff the wax with a fine steel wool to get a smooth finish.

I would have liked to have turned the old sink over to trace around it but the faucet was in the way.  Instead I made a temporary pattern from a piece of tissue paper, cutting that out and tracing around the edge.  I did measure again because I was only going to get one chance to get this hole perfect.

Drill a starter hole and use a jigsaw to cut out your sink hole.

Big sigh of relief when the sink fit perfectly into the cut out hole.

Cutting out the sink hole with a jigsaw left a few blade scuff marks but those were easily touched up with another coat of the antique wax.

The old backsplash was a little taller but  luckily we  had some leftover paint for a quick touch up.  That was one board I hadn’t measured.  🙁 

Doesn’t look like the same cabinet!

Have a great week, stay safe and stay inspired.

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