Transformation Tuesday - The Bar

This was the antique china hutch in my dining room.  It has lived many lives.  I remember my mother had it in our dining room filled with her glassware and Franciscan Desert Rose dishes.  When I got married and she moved into another house she gave the set to me.  I used it in my bedroom to hold sheets and towels for my master suite.  It was perfect for that until we moved to the farm.  My bedroom is much too small so it was reborn into a bar.  I recently started to redecorate and felt it need a facelift.

First things first I emptied it out and gave it a good cleaning.  A blank slate is always the place to start.

From there I filled it with my collection of Johnson Brothers white dishes.  They help keep the large piece from feeling too dark and heavy in the corner of the room.  Plus it keeps my dishes clean and convenient for use when company comes.  I forgot I had that many dishes.  It looks like I need to throw a dinner party.

Then there is the matter of the top.  It seemed too bare.

My new look is a modern country with a focus on home.  I found these two miniature houses a part of a collection at the Goodwill.  They were $1.99 each and I only took the two houses.  I hope whoever got the other buildings is enjoying them as much as I love these little pieces of art.  To keep them nice I put them under glass.  The dome was a Home Goods find for $12.99 and the bubble is actually a vase that I flipped over.  It's also a Home Goods purchase but only $9.99.  The middle is a painted cake dome from Marshalls for $14.99 and the little house is a hand painted and tin roofed birdhouse made by my mother for my baby shower.  Another special treasure.

So where did all the barware go?  I have a room in my house that used to be a poorly functioning utility/laundry room.  I have since relocated the washer and dryer and added shelving to this room to create a butler pantry.  Martha Stewart calls it a Keeping Room.  It's where my large and seldom used appliances live.  I also keep the pet food and products, cleaning supplies and an apartment sized refrigerator for condiments and odd items.  The air conditioner is located in here and a really large and unsightly duct runs upstairs in the corner.  I didn't want to waste precious space but needed to keep accessibility to the ductwork so I found this perfectly sized cabinet at Target.  I added the cubes to the top for maximum storage space.  It used to house my table linens but those are relocated to the buffet in the dining room where the white dishes used to be.  The tassel is a curtain tie back that has been looped around to that it acts as a safety lock.  If I leave the door open the baby won't be exploring in there.  It's prettier than those big plastic zip tie looking ones.

Here is a peek inside so you can see how it works.  All my glassware fits neatly inside and stays clean and safe from scampering dogs and baby.  On a side note that little treasure chest was inherited by my husband from his grandfather.  It houses two little crystal decanters with four shot glasses and cute little metal labels mark each bottle whisky and rye.  Pretty cool, huh?  I thought so.

In the cubes above I have our homemade apple pie in a jar.  It's delicious and dangerous all at the same time.  You almost forget it's made with everclear.  There is also our calamondin alcohol, made with home grown fruit and my pickle jar filling up with corks as reminders of some good times with loved ones.  Our shaker sets occupy the other half and two wire baskets from the Big Lots ($6 each on clearance) are home to my cloth napkins.