Breakfast Bar Project

 I had not planned on doing this project so soon,  other projects are high on the list of things to get done, but when I stopped by Sunrise Sawmill to figure out pricing,  things snowballed.   I asked Don about materials for a breakfast bar and he had exactly what I needed and a deal I could not refuse. 

And so it began. 

First I tore out the wall between the living room and kitchen.  The idea for this project started 9.5 yrs ago when we bought the house.  I knew that if we could open up this wall, we would have one huge open room. 

 I got it cleaned out and got the stove moved back, providing more room in the little kitchen.  After that, we splurged, heading out to Blue Ridge Surplus to buy some cabinets.  The cabinets are oak, made in NC.  Pretty cool. 

 I built a half wall that would be the back of the breakfast bar.  On the kitchen side, I used the plywood from the ceiling in the old bike room.  It felt really good to be able to recycle that.  On the front I was not sure what to do.  I went to Home Depot to look at the 1x6 planks, but then headed back to the sawmill.  Again,  I found some really cool poplar 1 by's that would do exactly what I needed. 

 I cut them, sanded, coated them and then screwed them in place.  It was time for the support posts, which I also screwed/bolted into the wall.  This thing is going to be solid.  The post is 4x4 solid oak, that I got in a 12 foot length, also from Sunrise Sawmill.  I sanded all of the wood a little bit, but wanted to leave the rough cuts and marks from the saw. 

And around 8:30 pm, after about 40hrs of work, Project Breakfast Bar is complete:

I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.  With the different types of wood, it really softens up the room, and paired with the wood stove, really makes it feel more like a rustic cabin.