Wow…it’s finally here. The day has come to reveal the end result of our hard work in remodeling our modern french country basement bar space in 6 weeks, as a guest participant in the One Room Challenge!
The One Room Challenge™ HERE consists of twenty design bloggers taking on the challenge of transforming a space. Every Wednesday, the designers document their process and share their sources and advice over six weekly posts. Definitely check them out, they are so talented and have done an extraordinary job, and they offer great design advice too!
One Room Challenge Guest Participation
I have joined the ORC as a guest participant this season redesigning a room in our home. You can catch up on all our progress and project details from the prior weeks below.
Week 3 “Sanding and Priming Cabinets”
Week 5 “Interior Cabinet Color Dilemma & New Hardware”
This is the third “One Room Challenge” Happy Haute Home has participated in, seems that each one gets more challenging. Each season, I take on bigger and tougher spaces in our home, but I welcome the opportunity to change up a space and be accountable over 6 weeks.
Last year, I participated in the “One Room Challenge” as a guest participant, and showcased our French Country Kitchen Renovation, it was a massive effort of painting 60 cabinets including 2 islands, installing new hardware and new glass for the cabinets, new lighting, renovating a fireplace and furnishing the kitchen. You can catch up on the details and the final reveal HERE.
The season before last, I took on a master bathroom renovation in our prior home. That project involved gutting a built-in tub, replacing the floor and wall tiles, adding new lighting, new hardware, granite countertops, painting the vanity cabinets, installing new glass for the shower surround, and installing a rain-head shower system. You can read all the details about that renovation HERE.
How Did We Decide on Our Bar Space to Remodel?
Deciding to update our basement bar space was an easy choice, as we are slowly updating all the rooms in our french country home. But prioritizing the spaces we transform is more difficult. Typically, we prioritize based on “need”. For instance, one of the first rooms we remodeled when we moved to our home was the gym HERE because fitness is important to us. But I must say…sometimes we prioritize based on “want”…as in the case of our upcoming Fall ORC guest participation when we will build a wine cellar.
This bar remodel was based on “want” because having a really fun and cool place to hang out and entertain is important to us 🙂
Now on YouTube
For a full video tour of the bar area, check out the this video HERE.
The Before Pictures
This is the bar area before we started our remodel…ick!
The After Pictures – “Final Reveal”
Painting the Cabinets
We started the remodel by painting the cabinets and the island with Benjamin Moore Advance Primer HERE and Paint HERE.
Bar Stools
Some of you may recognize the bar stools, they are similar to the ones we had in our kitchen before the remodel. The stools are black and saddle shaped with silver nail heads and purchased from Arhaus (HERE). We placed three stools on each side of the bar. I chose backless stools to keep the space open and make the countertop more accessible.
Cabinet Glass Panes and Glass Shelves
We replaced the textured glass in the cabinet doors with clear glass panes for a seamless and sleek look. In addition, we replaced the wood shelves inside the cabinets with glass shelves. Adding glass shelves allows the cabinet lighting to shine all the way down and highlight decorative glasses and bottles.
Floral Arrangement
I picked up this silver bowl from a flea market..it’s actually a punch bowl. Added white and pink roses for a beautiful centerpiece.
Cabinet Paint Color
The cabinet and island paint color we used is Obsidian by Restoration Hardware.
Pendant Lighting Over Island
The pendants over the island, are from Restoration Hardware HERE. They are the 13″ pendants in polished nickel.
Wall Paint Color
The walls are painted with Benjamin Moore paint using Restoration Hardware color Graphite.
Crown Molding Paint Color
The crown molding is painted with Benjamin Moore paint using Restoration Hardware color Sand Dollar.
Bar Appliances
The Fisher and Paykel dishwasher is the only appliance that didn’t need replacing. So far, it has held up very well.
In-Cabinet, Under-Cabinet & Over-Cabinet Lighting
In every home project we have worked on involving cabinets, we always add in-cabinet, under-cabinet, and even over-cabinet lighting.
This project in no different. We added in-cabinet lighting HERE and under-cabinet lighting HERE for that extra glow, effect, and ambiance. Also added lighting to the top of the cabinets to get that glow on the ceiling. Also, notice the way the interior cabinet lights shine through the glass shelves and light the entire cabinet not just the top shelf?
Display Shelf
No bar is complete without an LED display shelf HERE. Ours is 2 tiered but they can be purchased as a single shelf or 3 tiered. They are also available in varying lengths. The programmable remote allows the colors to change or remain constant. We love our display shelf and the way clear bottles light up.
Black Bar Sink Faucet
The black sink faucet SIMILAR HERE is european styled and really lovely.
A home bar is a perfect place to enjoy a charcuterie platter with a bottle of wine.
Bar Hardware
We replaced all the knobs with nickel pulls from Restoration Hardware HERE. We used a variety of 4 inch, 6 inch and 8 inch pulls.
Wall Sconces
We also added 2 wall scones, iron torch style, also from Restoration Hardware HERE. That door opens up to the future wine cellar.
Disco Ball
Now for the “pièce de résistance”! A hard wired..rotating disco ball HERE with lights! That’s right folks, the ball and lights are hard wired to a light switch and rotates when turned on. What more could you ask for!? And NO, we did not add the ball, it was already in the home. It’s so tacky…we have to keep it! And between you and me, it’s grown on me and I kinda like it 😉 Perfect for a dance party!
Bar Island
The island is spacious and great for entertaining. The granite is beautiful and is called Emerald Pearl HERE. It has just the right amount of black, gray and beautiful blue tones with a gorgeous sparkle.
Basement Gym
For gym ideas, check out post HERE. We are very pleased with our “Rogue” equipment, it gets used everyday.
Fireplace Surround
We added a 70″ TV HERE to the Fireplace area. My husband seems to really like the VIZIO brand, great quality for a great price. He mounts our TV’s himself and really likes this brand HERE. These mounts have never failed us…and we have mounted A LOT of TV’s!
Favorite Bourbon
During our recent trip to Kentucky, we toured a couple distilleries HERE and brought back a few bottles (or a case) with us…in particular this Rye Whiskey is in short supply in our area. Angel’s Envy is one of my husband’s favorite bourbons.
Focal Point of the Bar
I agonized about what to hang over the space above the sink. Shelves, mirror, clock, or sconce? I looked through thousands of paintings and pictures and finally decided on this canvas print HERE. It brings color into the space and is reminiscent of the late 1800’s depicting a scene at the Folies-Bergère in Paris. It is considered the last piece of work by French painter Édouard Manet. I wonder what Manet would think of our disco ball?
The wall light over the picture is from Restoration Hardware HERE and is finished in polished nickel.
You can also get daily inspiration by following along on Instagram HERE.
See you next time!
