IKEA HACK: Mid Century Bar Cabinet

Our original kitchen renovation plans included a desk-like area that would run from the cabinet beside the range, under the window and to the wall that meets the sun room (see this before photo for reference). We envisioned a desk/seating space that would appear like an extension of the kitchen, with a matching marble counter and a matching cabinet to store office stuff like a printer or filing system. Unfortunately we couldn’t install this desk-like space for two reasons: mainly cost, but the standard prefab cabinet depth was deeper than the wall that meets the sliding door to the sun room. The counter tops would rest beside glass, and if we didn’t want that then we would have to alter the sliding door area and it just seemed like too much of a headache at the time. I kind of wish we had pursued that option since our sliding glass door is broken anyway and we plan on replacing it, but we didn’t, and now we’re left with an bare, awkward corner in our dining room that just needed some help.

As a temporary solution I placed a Vittsjo shelving unit in the corner, which I spray painted gold (duh). And although it did the trick it always looked messy and I was SO TIRED of dusting those glass shelves, they always looked dirty.

I always thought a bar cabinet would look excellent in that corner, one like this or this or even this! But you know, $$$$$ and there’s just no way I could persuade my husband that we needed a $700 bar cabinet when I could DIY a legit one for like $150.

Here are the materials you need:

• Ikea Besta cabinet with the white high gloss doors
• 2 Lews Hardware brass knobs
• 4 x 4″ mid century style wood table legs
• 4 x angled plates
• Optional: wine glass holders

I wanted the inside of the cabinet to have a little flair, and I had extra faux bois gold foil wrapping paper (which I hoarded from Christmas). I used some double-sided tape and taped the paper to the sides of each cabinet wall (I didn’t want to commit to gluing it on).

We don’t have a ton of cabinet space (a decision I made on purpose, I hate having too much crap in kitchen cabinets!) and needed a place to stash our go-to wine glasses. I ordered these raw wood wine racks and screwed them into the Besta top using wood screws.

I actually had a set of wood legs from an old stool I found at a flea market, so I just removed them from the stool and attached them to the bottom of the Besta cabinet. The fact that they are vintage adds so much character to the cabinet if you ask me! For the same look, use these table legs, spray paint the caps gold, and attach them using angled plates.

Finally, attach the doors, measure and drill holes for the knobs and you’re done!