Bar/counter for media room

I myself am building a bar following the design of the gentleman's bar you have posted a picture of. It is my first 'big' project too and it's so far going smoothly.

I for one think this would be a good entry point in the DIY world for you, as it does for me.

Now for construction tips, always start with a basic frame.

My frame at the front is 80cm high by 180cm long and 8 cm large. I basically just used pine for it's strength/ease of cutting etc...

the sides are 80 cm high by 60 cm long and 8cm large. Pine was also used there.

After the framing was all done, I then added the counter top which is 180 cm long by 60cm large and 2cm thick. After fastening the base to it, it is very sturdy( I sat on it and it doesn't flex. I'm only 68kg but thought this would be the approximate pressure made by 3 peoples elbows on the bartop!).

That's pretty much as far as I went as I have put the finishing on hold for now(well, for the last 2 months that is )

All I have lest is panelling the front/sides and straing/finishing the corners/cornices.

Cost so far is around AUS$50 without including my own time which is running up to 4h or so so far.

I hope this gave you a bit of an idea!

You can pm me if you need some more tips.

Cheers

Boris

James - The same posters theatre pics gave me the same idea as you, and I'm planning a similar bar/table for my HT.

It just makes sense as:

a) a way to hide the "ugly" back of the last row of seating

b) another row of seating for overflow

c) as a perfect height for bar stools to be able to look over the (in my case) 2nd row of seating on a riser

I plan to build mine, but I would be interested in anything you're able to find out in this thread.

I'm thinking about building one too... Anyone have some pics.

It's really easier than it looks. If I would have known it was going to be such a popular piece, I would have taken more step by step pictures. As bbboza mentioned, just frame it out with your measurements and design ideas, then cover it with 1/2" or 3/4" plywood, then use various trim pieces to cover the joints and edges, and then through some supports underneath. I stained everything beforehand and just made sure all of my cuts were very accurate. I would rather cover up nail holes rather than stain it built and have to deal with drip marks and gravity. Here's a couple of pics to get you motivated or if your not handy, use the pics to have a friend or buddy build it with you. There's really no way to mess it up as long as you make sure that there enough leg room for your bar stools and that you can see over the row in front of you... Staining takes forever but it's worth it. If you paint it, even easier and your cuts don't have to be as accurate. A little caulk and some paint and problem solved...

http://public.fotki.com/jeffbaker24/.../img_1360.html

http://public.fotki.com/jeffbaker24/.../img_1386.html

http://public.fotki.com/jeffbaker24/.../img_1703.html

http://public.fotki.com/jeffbaker24/.../img_2597.html

http://public.fotki.com/jeffbaker24/.../img_2769.html

Thanks, for the pics, Jeff!

Did you just attach your table/counter-top with the supports you showed in one of the later pics? I'm trying to figure out whether the stud walls your built in the first pic are the same height as they are in the 2nd one, and if the top was just attached in from the side.

Hey James - Don't feel bad, sometimes I wish my wife didn't have as much confidence in my ability. She's always saying "you could do that yourself" for things that I've never worked on before in my life. Maybe I need to screw up some jobs to make her realize how difficult some things are.

ETA - Be sure to update this thread with pics!

Looks great!

That's basically what I had in mind, but I think I'll eliminate the middle leg. If I need added support, I'll use a elbow bracket like Jeff did above since mine will need to seat 3 stools.

Incidentally, I plan to use some leftover hardwood flooring as my countertop. I got this idea from the thread "HeyNow" had about his DIY bar. As I'd been pondering how to make use of this flooring (I didn't have enough for my bar), the idea just came together.

There's no need for the middle support if your using 3/4" or 1" and 2 or 3 wooden support brackets.

My high top is 48" high so I cut all of my vertical inside stained panels to 44" and nailed them on. Then, for the countertop I layed an 8ft section horizontally on the top part of all 3 vertical edges and threw some wood glue on it. Finally, I put a small 4" (Actually, 3-1/4") strip to finish out the inside and came to this point: http://public.fotki.com/jeffbaker24/.../img_1386.html The picture doesn't show it but the countertop is literally sandwiched inbetweens the top and bottom panels. Trim it out with some routed poplar and embossed wood and your all set.

Remember to make sure all of your wood grains are going to same way for the best look. Also, plywood comes in 8ft sections so if your going wider you may have to get fancy.

Jeff - What are the dimensions for your table's depth? The OP stated he wanted 2' depth, but I'm wondering if 18" would be enough counterspace.

Countertop surface area is 12" deep and 8' wide... Leg room is about 12 1/2" to the edge. I have sat back there before and never once had a problem with crossed legs or just kicking back. Now, on the other hand, my bar is 16" deep which is more than enough legroom...

Jeff

Sounds about right for what I want too, then. Thanks.

Great job Jeff. I pretty much based my riser on your design and plan on building a bar similar to yours. See here.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=676844

This thread will be very helpful as I can see the whole building process. First though I plan on building a component stand to house all my components under the screen. I'm really getting into this DIY thing and if it weren't for fellow AVSer's like you sharing your ideas and construction methods I'd be totally lost.

This is a great thread with great info on it. I am just now to the point of thinking about building the bar to sit behind my last row of seating. Keep the pictures coming and I'll try to post as many as I can while I'm building. My father is a retired wood worker and construction engineer, so he should be able to help out with ideas and tricks if I run into anything. I'm planning on having my bar about 10 feet wide, not sure about depth yet.

Any updates?

I've had some delays but I'm getting ready to start on mine soon...

I had some delays as well, called summer outdoor projects. I have only my bar framed and layed out using 2x4's right now. But I just quit my job and have two full weeks before starting my new job, so I'll have some free time to get caught up on the bar projected as well as laying the carpet in the room. I will be posting pictures soon.

Same here.

jamescam - How 'bout you?

Bar Suggestions (if a bit late):
DIY works OK if you have the time and ability.
Try Ikea for countertops - they have oak butcher-block style countertops starting at $89.
Easy to work with, and you can stain or go natural with a coat of polyurethane.
I was able to do a curved bartop for a couple hundred rather than a custom Corian, granite or Silestone ($$$). My application was an alcohol service bar, curved bar and bar top, in the back corner of my multi-purpose HT/Bar/Party Room. Can't wait to throw a Superbowl Party there next year ;-)

If you just want a straight 6' or 8' bar - you can get those off-the shelf from (booze) bar manufacturers. Beach Manufacturing is one, but there are many others: www.beachmfg.com. The standard 42 or 43 height might be a problem for the HT applications you envision (not sure the height you were thinking).
On the other hand, you can choose not to raise the floor and allow the height of the bar/chairs to take care of raising the individuals for you (30 stools and 42 bar).
The downside of an off-the-shelf bar is they are designed with the finished side (looks good) and seating side (countertop overhang) as the same side, with the other side as shelves/cabinets for alcohol. You probably want the finished side and seating side to be opposite for this application, but it can probably work either way.
Maybe you make the guys in the back seats play bartender ;-)

Buff,

How high is your riser, and how high is the bar top? I'm looking at building a bar similar to yours...but my 14" riser + berklines is going to make the bar quite high. Yours looks to be the perfect height...I'm wondering how much higher mine would have to be. Thanks - Andrew

Okay, I *finally* got around to getting started on this project yesterday.

Got the bar pretty much framed up, and the countertop on. All that's left is skin and trim.

By that I mean I need to cut/stain the plyboard "skin" and trim all the exposed edges with stained trim as well.

Countertop is 46" tall, which might be a little high but was needed so the loveseat could "tuck" under when reclined. See last pic for what I mean. Countertop depth is 18", plenty of room for dining, which is what I had in mind. Leg depth is 12", which turned out to be plenty too, when I tried it out.







Would appreciate any thoughts/suggestions.

Will anyone bump thier head when the loveseat reclines? This looks very good!

Thanks! No, I tested and retested the head-bumping scenario to make sure that wouldn't happen.

Basically, the headrest drops down significantly when the chair reclines. Then when it's in full recline (bed-mode), it moves back slightly but well away from the lip of my counter.

That's why I put the middle support back a little, so the chair could nest into that space when reclined.

Granted, this is a true custom job...if I ever changed theatre seating, the bar could become obsolete, but so far I'm only out $16 in materials (the wood countertop was leftover from a previous job), so I'm not worried about it too much.

46 " is pretty high. Have you given any thought to putting a platform for the stools?

Not yet. My wife and I are both average height and were comfortable using it as is.

That's always something I could add later on.

Correction, countertop is actually only 43" high. I had misremembered what part I had measured. 42" is "standard" for bar top, so this isn't too far off. No wonder it felt comfortable.

Anyway, I'm in the process of staining the "skin" right now and expect to add that in the next few days. Hope to have some genuine progress to show after the weekend.

Update: After a couple of nights in a row of nothing but sanding/staining, I've got the bar mostly "skinned" now. Next up is trim, which I've stained with only one coat so far. Check out pics below:









After worrying a bit about how stable it was, I've since attached it to the riser with lag bolts, and after adding the support brackets and the "skin," this baby is rock solid. It doesn't budge. I'd imagine it'll get even more solid once I add the base molding and the rest of the trim.

Irmo,

Are you going to build a front ledge so the drinks don't slide off onto the chair?

HeyNow - I hadn't planned on doing that, as I wanted the users to be able just slide their arms on/off the bar without having rub up against a ledge.

It looks like BuffBakerGA's version has the same idea, from the pic below:



And, I modeled my project entirely from his idea/design.

But, that would be an easy thing to add when I put that front trim on. I would just move it up a centimeter or two. Thoughts?