The Steen Style

When we first moved in to this house, there was a nook next to the kitchen that had a built-in desk. This wasn’t something we were interested in having at all – it screamed junk collector to me. Several months later, we ripped out the desk and put in a kegerator. Fast forward another two years and we added a wine cabinet. After a nice coat of stain on the wine cabinet and a new coat of paint on the walls, our bar area is finally complete and it looks great!

Way back when, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stain or paint the wine cabinet. I received a ton of feedback and I loved the advice I heard several times – you can always paint over stain but you can’t stain over paint. So the decision was made – stain it first!

After one coat of Minwax Provincial stain, this bad boy was ready to go. It was a pretty simple process of staining – brush on, wipe off – and we only did one coat as the stain took really well and we didn’t want it any darker. We also forwent using a wax or poly to seal it. I didn’t think it was necessary for this piece of furniture since most of it would be hidden by walls and the kegerator.

For the top of the cabinet, I painted two coats of chalkboard paint to give the appearance of a tray. (You know I love a good tray!) We debated putting another piece of wood on top (but how could we make it look seamless from the rest of the piece) or putting a piece of mirror on top (but it seemed too glitzy for this area) so a faux tray seemed like the easiest and most practical solution. A jar of corks, a John Derian tray and a typical Italalian cheers – perfect!

This part of our house is finally complete and I love it. I’m glad we stained the cabinet so it blends into the keg and doesn’t try to stand out from it. Our blue bar cart does a great job as a fun bar piece so I’m glad we didn’t spray paint the wine cabinet as well. The lights from our glass cabinet also do a great job of lighting up this space as does our DIY gallery wall with bright white picture frames.

The best part about our bar area? The comments from any male that walks through this house, which definitely includes the guys who measured for new kitchen appliances and lovingly stared at the tap while they worked. Yes, boys. It does hold a full-sized keg and yes, we do use it. A lot.

Just three short years ago, our house looked like the picture on the left. New floors, new paint and countless DIY hours make the picture on the right so perfect!