Birch Wine Bar

Bar Before

Bar After

This simple bar was quite the challenge! Made of solid birch, this bar was in my customer's family since the mid-1960s. We received it in the condition it had been for over 50 years, painted white, with more than its share of scratches. Old hardware dated this piece, so we had our work cut out for us. 

You never truly know how much work a piece is going to be until you get into the "bones" of it. Stripping this small bar was deceptively difficult for a few reasons; there was a lot of surface area and the raised panel details as well as the legs and inside was an enormous task. The interior glass holders each took close to two hours to strip. When you strip painted surfaces and plan on staining them, it's necessary to remove every speck of paint. If you don't, the stain will not be able to soak into the wood as those tiny paint specks remain and stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. 

Bar Before

Bar After

After every speck of paint was removed from all surfaces, the tedious step of sanding was next. Using a 60 grit sandpaper first, each surface was carefully sanded to remove any remaining paint left from the stripper. Gradually working our way up to a 220 grit and not until each surface was made completely smooth were we able to begin staining. We chose a Min-Wax mahogany gel stain which proved to be a great choice. It brought out the beautiful grain of the birch, which was hidden under all those layers of paint. 

The real challenge came with the ledge underneath the top that lifts up. It had been covered with Formica. For those of you who have had experiences with Formica, you can't do much with it. You can't sand it, paint it, strip it or cover it with anything liquid. The best solution was to offer my customer an upgrade of ceramic tile. He agreed, so we selected a ceramic/glass tile combination in 12" square sheets. Using brushed nickel as a color inspiration, we chose tile to match the new hardware we purchased. This was the "bling" the cabinet cried out for as it finished it off with a durable surface that will last another 50 years...or longer...