Bar Build

Nothing here came off a plan. The whole bar — front bar, back bar, hutch, cabinets, trim — was drawn from scratch in SketchUp first, which is where the dimensions and the cut list came from.

The model also settled the material split. Oak plywood from Lowe's for the bulk of it: carcasses, cabinet boxes, anything that ends up hidden behind a face. Solid red oak for everything that shows — the bar rail, the moulding and trim, the casing and facing, and the lumber in the bar top. That came S2S from Central Hardwoods in Dallas, along with the wenge for the bar top.

The front bar got framed first and wired before anything closed up. Romex ran through the studs for the receptacles, with steel nail plates over the bored holes so a screw couldn't find a wire later. Then it got clad in oak plywood.

The cabinets went in as plywood carcasses, face-framed in solid oak to match the rest of what shows on the front bar. Wine glass holders and proximity lighting came later.

The back bar base is a plywood carcass with extra depth built into the rear out of 2x4s — enough room to mount receptacle boxes and run Romex behind the cabinets rather than around them. Face frame in solid oak, with doors and drawers bought rather than built. Proximity lighting underneath.

The hutch was built as its own piece, sized to sit on the granite top of the back bar base. Three sections: narrow left and right bays carrying glass shelves for bottles and decor, and a middle section with a liquor shelf at the bottom and space above it to mount a TV.

The front verticals got fluted casing with plinth blocks at the base and rosette blocks at the top, and the top of the hutch was trimmed out heavily. Accent lighting went in above.