Welcome to my Basement Room which I call "Cinema and Brew". My room after a year of procrastination on the floor covering is finally ready for display. The size of the room is 24 by 20 plus the bump out section at the stairs. Originally my plan for the room was to replace a non functional bar/counter that was in the room, and put a pool table in the room. Then I came across AVS Forum and decided this type of room would get much better usage of the space than a bar with a pool table.

When I purchased this house it had a wall of oak storage cabinets at which is now the back side of the theater. It was those cabinets that determined stain color for the bar and trim work. When I started this room other than the cabinets the non paneled walls were drywall with bright white paint. The ceiling was exposed floor joist and with plumbing to the kitchen above so ceiling tile was really my only option. Flooring in the room was painted concrete with a patch of carpet at the bottom of the stairs. Lighting was a couple of harsh eight foot florescent ceiling fixtures attached to the floor joist. The placement of the new oak bar in the room was determined by the existing plumbing of the old bar sink. Now I have warm inviting room that friends ask to come over watch ball games, have movie nights or just get together and have beverages and conversation.

All the work I have done myself, electrical, bar build, 100" DIY screen, ceiling tile, laminate floor, carpet tiles, etc, etc, etc. I had never attempted many of the skills required to complete this project prior to this build, so it was a learning experience. For those of you on the fence if you can do a build by yourself, this room is proof that you can. Just take your time, plan it out and be patient. You can do it. You will make mistakes along the way, and the list of things you would do differently will become lengthy, as will the list of future enhancements. The mistakes you make probably are only going to be noticed by you. Your guests will enjoy and be impressed by your accomplishments. But most importantly is the satisfaction and enjoyment you will receive once you start using your room.

I want to thank everyone that in the past that have shared information here on these forums. It has been those threads that have helped give me the tools, confidence and motivation to get my space to where it is today. Because of that, I have a responsibility to other readers of this forum to display my results so they may benefit from my build as I have from many others. Enjoy the pictures and some time at Cinema and Brew.

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Wow. That looks really good.

A great place to watch a movie or hang out and watch the game.

Nice work!

Kavh, looks sweet, love the color of the bar. I am working on my bar and have a couple of questions. Is the bar done in oak? if so, what stain is that Golden Oak? how many coats of poly on the top did you end up using? The lip under the arm rest molding or I think it's called the bar molding, is the bottom edge finished also, meaning if you looked up from underneath is the bottom of the lip extending out finished? I am trying to figure out is that is viewable to anyone or not and wondering if the bottom piece show be a nice piece of wood or if I could just use something cheaper like MDF. Sorry for all the questions...Thanks, Dennis .

Kavh, looks sweet, love the color of the bar. I am working on my bar and have a couple of questions. Is the bar done in oak? if so, what stain is that Golden Oak? how many coats of poly on the top did you end up using? The lip under the arm rest molding or I think it's called the bar molding, is the bottom edge finished also, meaning if you looked up from underneath is the bottom of the lip extending out finished? I am trying to figure out is that is viewable to anyone or not and wondering if the bottom piece show be a nice piece of wood or if I could just use something cheaper like MDF. Sorry for all the questions...Thanks, Dennis .

Thanks for the comments. The bar and all the trim in the room is 100% Oak. The stain that matched the best to the cabinets turned out to be Varathane Golden Pecan. When I started out I thought it would be Golden Oak that matched but of the five sample packets I picked up it was the Golden Pecan that was an exact match. I have five coats of Poly on top of the bar. I sometimes wonder if it was enough but it is holding up well.

I couldn't find any bar rail locally at the time, without special ordering it and was fearful that a mistake in cutting would be costly. (the new Menards in my area now has bar rail in stock a year to late.) Then I came up with the idea of using stair tread for the bar rail. The stair tread is bullnosed and has an overlap which just butted against the plywood. Just Miter cut and attach to the plywood and I have a rounded edge on my bar top. I think in total I ended up with a ten inch overhang.

Nice looking area... glad to see I'm not the only Vikings fan in the world. We're just having another slow start :)

No tap!!:eek:

great looking room! Nice booze selection too

Sorry I couldn't open your pics from work. Just got to take a look at your area. I must say you did a terrific job on the entire space. I could spend some time watching a game and having a couple of brews. Just not Schlitz! Where did you get that football?

You should be proud! Neat and tidy.

Enjoy!

Thanks Randy,

Your thread, was without a doubt one that I spent hours looking at and daydreaming before, during, and after building my bar. Many great ideas from your build especially when it came to building the bar back. I noticed that early in your thread you have some posters of the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans. Where you at that game? I have one of the same poster hanging at the bottom of the stairs. A friend of mine fell into a couple of tickets, and I was lucky enough to tag along with him.

I have had the football for 30 years. When I was in high school and college I worked at a small town grocery store. The beer distributor had a display at the beginning of a football season that they said that you could purchase these footballs off the beer truck. So I did. I have kept it all this time. Everybody asks about the football when they see it. The other item everyone asks about is the scrolling Hamms sign. I found this laying in a corner of second hand furniture store. In this part of the country every bar had one of these when I was a kid. I don't know how many people have told me the same story as I have, that their dad would drag them into the bar when they were a kid and they sat and drank an orange crush and stared at the sign to pass the time while Dad would have a few beers. I have toyed with putting a booth under this sign.

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Sporting the Schlitz pride are we! That is some aweful beer my friend. Nice looking bar though. Well done.

Sporting the Schlitz pride are we! That is some aweful beer my friend. Nice looking bar though. Well done.

Don't we all have found memories of our first, regardless of how aweful she may have been. LOL ;)

I didn't go to the game. I have all the posters back to Super bowl XXVIII I think. I can still smell Schlitz.....ack