We Have Cabinets!

In the dry bar that is. Early last month I told you about our plans for the awkward closet in our living room. Well we've finally made enough progress that a progress post was deemed acceptable. And I get to use the strike through text on the to do list, which always makes me happy. Here's the list with newly crossed off items!



Dry Bar To-Do List

Remove doors and hardware

Paint door jamb

Paint walls

Lay backer board

Install tile

Assemble and install lower cabinets

Install countertop

Backsplash (same tile as floor to keep things consistent)

Upper cabinets or shelves (I think we'll go with shelves but just incase we change our minds)

Run some electrical thru the wall from the kitchen

Lighting

Stock with booze and wine



I started with the tile because that seems like the logical place to start. I decided that laying the tile in a brick pattern would be best since 2 whole tiles wouldn't really fit in between the door frame and I just like the way it looks better than the grid you get when you stack tile. I also wanted to do a dry run before the mortar was mixed. That way if I encountered any problems (like a slightly curved wall) I wouldn't be stressed out by drying mortar while I fixed them.

It probably only took me 30 minutes to actually install the tile once the mortar was all mixed up. I started at the front (since it would be visible) and worked toward the back. I used a total of 5 tiles for this area the back being just one tile to make those little sliver pieces.



I let the tile sit for about two weeks before (totally not necessary, but I was being lazy thorough) I finally grouted. I guess I had other things to do. Instead of buying dry grout that I would have to mix up myself, I found these handy tubes of pre mixed grout at the same store (floor and decor) where we bought our tile.



It was incredibly easy to use and sooo much cleaner than regular grout. Basically just apply a good sized bead of grout along the grout lines and then use the grout float to smooth things out. Just to be safe and not mess up our wood I put some painters tape on for protection. We did that when we grouted the kitchen (pre blog) and it worked well then. Just make sure to clean up the grout with a sponge BEFORE you take the tape off!



The floor ended up using only about 2" from the tube, so I put a nail in the tip to save it for when we do the back splash. Honestly, I think I will probably go with the tube of premixed grout from now on. It was that nice!

Fast forward to this weekend and you would find Matt and I picking up the cabinets at Ikea! I sure to love that store. I went the prior week to use their kitchen planning program to figure out a few configurations so we could discuss which one we liked best. The best part about the program is it prints out a complete list of everything you need, including prices. So with our list in hand we rang everything up and took this stack of boxes home.

The cabinets were pretty easy to put together. I really think whoever designed this system is a genius! All the different cabinets are essentially boxes and the attachments (in this case the drawers and doors) are really what makes them different. The boxes went together fairly quickly. Tubbs also did an excellent job of supervising.

However the drawers were a little bit different. I could have used a little more instruction on the exact location of the drawers. A map of where the drawer glides should go would have been awesome. But since I didn't find one I had to build the drawers and install them one at a time to space them correctly. Oh and while we're nit picking, it would have been a lot easier to attach the slides before I assembled the boxes. Just sayin'.

Once I got the glides figured out I flipped the boxes over so I could add the legs. Also pretty straight forward and easy, although I think they should tell you to use some clamps to keep things lined up.

Once I popped the drawes and doors back on, things were looking pretty legit.

That is, until I open the doors for a sweet action shot. Apparently cats love sitting inside stuff. Or at least ours do.



However, they do not love each other.



So that's all, for the dry bar right now, but I'm hoping to have at least one more post this week. We spent a little time in the back yard and things are coming along pretty nicely right now so keep an eye out for that. Until then, who else has a cat that likes to sit in things? I'm always baffled by their choices.

This post was not sponsored by any of the retailers noted above. These are my honest opinions.