Materials:
IKEA EXPEDIT 2x2, 1x5 and desk extension
Ikea Expedit Desk add-on
Undercabinet Stemware Rack
Wine Bottle Racks (2)
Aluminum Channel
Plastic speaker port
Anthropology brass pulls (5)
Rigid Casters (4)
Description:
We hacked together a mini-bar for our office holiday party and beyond. Here's how we did it. Cheers!!
1) I used a 2x2 and a 1x5 to create an-extra long counter top for the bar, and an EXPEDIT desk add-on as a moveable door/surface combination. The idea was to allow the bar to take on different looks depending on where the moveable door was positioned.
2) I cut a continuous channel into the top of both EXPEDITs. We laid length of aluminum track from Home Depot into the channel. The channel is set a few inches in from the outermost edges of the EXPEDITS so that it'€™s not visible from the sides.
3) The rolling cabinet door is basically an inverted L, with inset casters rolling along both the floor and inside the aluminum track.
I cut the edge of the EXPEDIT desktop to a width of 11-3/8"€œ, to be 4" shy of the back edge of the EXPEDITs. This left a 4" surface along the length of the bar to display bottles without blocking
the track.
I also cut out a recess in the underside of the desktop in order to mount the first set of casters.
4) Next, I cut the bottom end off the vertical support of the desktop to reveal the cardboard honeycomb inside. I removed enough honeycomb to insert a 1" x 2"€ pine strip into the hollow frame. I attached the casters to the pine strip and mounted it inside the cut end of the desk - deep enough so the wheels would the floor without being seen.
I used Gorilla Glue to affix pine blocks into the channels for the other casters and the aluminum track, since the EXPEDIT is too hollow to screw into otherwise.
Now the fun part...
5) I cut a hole through the top of the EXPEDIT 2x2, and lined it with a 4" speaker port. Easy ice access, and it'€™s the perfect size to let a bottle chill for awhile. A last-minute brainstorm was to turn an EXPEDIT door Insert on it'€™s side so that we could pull it down to open, slide in a small trash bin as an ice bucket, and voila!
6) For the finishing touches I added two J.K. Adams 12-Bottle wine racks because they fit almost perfectly in the square compartments of the EXPEDIT. I had to sand the outside edges down a little and pounded them in with a rubber mallet - no glue necessary! They came unfinished, so I sprayed them black. I did the same with an under-cabinet stemware rack from The Container Store, then Gorilla-Glued it in.
I use Rosewood PANYL, which is one of my favorite combinations with the Black-Brown EXPEDIT finish. Lastly, I took the woodgrain theme even further with some petrified wood pulls that were being closed out at Anthropology.for $2.99 each.
Total Time: 6 hrs
Total Cost:
EXPEDIT 2x2, 1x5 & desk add-on - $150
Aluminum track, casters, wood - $40
Speaker port - $6
J.K. Adams wine racks - $54
Container Store stemware rack - $30
Anthropology pulls - $15
PANYL - $35
TOTAL - $330
~ PANYL, NYC
