Bar Reveal
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When my husband and I were newly married we renovated the kitchen in our apartment in San Francisco and we built a beautiful bar, with French bistro vibes, and shelving from Urban Archeology. It became the focal point of our home and we spent many nights chatting with friends and making drinks there. It made entertaining so much fun. I still have memories of our oldest son, as a brand new baby, hanging out in a baby lounger on the little bistro table across from the bar while we invited friends over to meet him. When we moved to the suburbs of San Francisco a few years later, and we were renovating an old farmhouse, we built a stunning hanging bar that was custom designed by Amuneal in Philadelphia, and it brought the whole open living room and dining room together.
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So when we moved into our house in Connecticut we knew that we wanted to build a bar in our living room, with colors that complemented the dining room, because it’s one large open space. Matt designed the bar based on the original bar in our San Francisco apartment, but with a few updated twists. Sadly the cost of our original shelving from Urban Archeology had more than quadrupled in price since our first renovation, so we were forced to get creative. We found shelving through Restoration Hardware that they had designed as floor-to-ceiling bathroom shelving, and we were able to cut it down to be the perfect size for our bar.
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We decided that we wanted mirrors behind the bar shelving to add light to that corner of the room, and we were lucky to find Fairfield Glass in Fairfield, Connecticut. We ordered custom mirrors through them that are stylistically based on old French bistro mirrors, with some age and patina around the edges. I felt like that would give the bar a more authentic feel and I think that’s true. We used Serena and Lily Palmetto wallpaper in the dining room, so I color matched the blue in the wallpaper for the blue color on the bar. We chose more modern hardware and lighting to make the bar feel youthful and bright, and help to offset our formal dining room furniture, which are antiques that I grew up with. The furniture was gifted to us when we lived in San Francisco and we love it, but we’re also trying to breathe new life into it. I feel like the color of the bar, the lighting and the hardware give the bar a more fresh, traditional, coastal feel, which is the overall style that we’re going for in our current home.
BAR DETAILS
Cabinet color: Benjamin Moore Hale Navy
Bar hardware: Rejuvenation Trask
Bar shelving: Restoration Hardware
Beverage fridge: XO appliances double French door
Countertop: Calacatta Oro
Lighting: Edison Light Globes
Mirrors: Fairfield Glass, Fairfield Connecticut – custom bistro style mirrors
