Imgur user NickMO945 uploaded photos of how he created his dream bar in his basement.
“Here’s my initial design for an aviator themed bar, created in google sketchup. I have always been intrigued with the WWII nostalgia of Royal AF pilots and American pilots assembling around a bar after they returned home from their combat sorties, they’d toast to those who didn’t make it. That’s where the old-world beams come in, the backbone of the design and a throwback to their time. I really like the more modern shaker style cabinet/column look and also drew inspiration from Irish pubs with the darker theme. It’s a mixture of a bunch of different eras, basically what I like the most from each.”
“The two-tiered curved bar will be made with DIY poured concrete countertops that flow around the columns. This idea became a huge pain, during the build I regretted it. Google puts this random guy in your 3D models that some say he looks like Stan Lee…thought He’d be my first bartender.”
“Once i had the arch made I lifted it up in pieces to the ceiling and screwed it in place to create a soffit that matches the bar. Then I used a level and made 2x4s come straight down….duplicated the arch for the bottom piece and I got myself a cool arched bar overhang.”
“The columns and beams are just balanced here to make sure it’ll all work. Everything has to come down before sheetrock… IMPORTANT: Notice the spool of messy wire on the left side of this photo? That’s the wire for the LEDs, column gas lamps, bar power outlets, and chandelier. For the sake of not posting 300 images I’m skipping the wiring how to…match black to black, white to white and copper to copper and call out the inspector before you sheetrock. My inspector was awesome, very helpful. Forgot to put GFI protected outlets on the side walls in the bar area. Easy fix.”
“Starting to look like a basement. I Scraped and mopped up sheetrock/paint gunk. This was pretty brutal, took two nights.”
“Because I had a good google sketchup design I knew the widths I needed for the cabinets. The style is “pepper shaker” if you’re interested. Two fridges cost me a few hundred each but that’s about the price of a base cabinet so it was an easy decision to do two fridges instead of one…plus it ads to the symmetry.”
“Now for the fun part…the bar build. This is the cabinet structure I’ll be talking about over the next few photos. Each of those cabinet sidewalls was a struggle…”
“Notice all the wires in the big cabinet on the right? That’s where all the LED controllers will hopefully go. If you’re considering doing this project, take a moment and look at the mess in the background. It was like this for 6 months.”
“There’s one of the LED lights connected (the wire I pre-ran worked!). I used RGBW LEDs which means they do red, green, blue and white. The W is key because with white you can get a full range of colors outside just bright cheesy nightclub lights. You can get more subtle effects.”
“Finished form, tape EVERYTHING with electrical or duct tape.”
“Okay so I was working solo here with fast drying concrete, I had about 4 bags to mix before it dried, and I had to float it. I apologize for not stopping to take action shots but it was a mess anyway. I used a fiber additive and mixed that in with the concrete, it’s supposed to make it way stronger.”
“Far wall..who knows how I’m going to clean up all that. What a mess. You can’t tell from the photo but it’s ALL over the floors, the air is 80% humidity of pure concrete dust and I’m spent. This was a high point in progress but one of the lowest points in epic mess.”
“That night I heard a CRASH at O dark 30. I woke up and ran downstairs…I was convinced the whole thing just imploded. I never figured out what that was but the countertops looked fine.”
“First beer drinking went well.”
“3rd pour I got a little cocky and stopped to take a photo.
You just fill it with concrete, it’s not that glamorous.”
“Now I’ve moved onto the back stone wall. I used a faux stone made of foam that comes in sheets. It’s super easy to work with.”
“Here’s the top molding and the LED light strip installed. The up-light helps make the molding pop.”
“8 corbels help support the bar, I started painted them the cabinet color…the far right one is done.”
“Not done yet…building a barn door for the workout room.”
“My dad helped me on this, turned out awesome. Thanks dad!”
“ainted the faces and put on the soft close doors! These turned out better than expected.”
“Cigar Sofa and bomber-jacket leather chairs.”
“End the post where it all began. My favorite shot. Thanks for looking! Hope you enjoyed my build.”
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