As a step in improving our new house, we have finished constructing a drinks station in the empty nook next to our kitchen.
Next to our kitchen we have a hallway with a small nook inside it. Oddly, this nook was empty of any cabinetry, so we have had a plan to add some since we moved in. It finally came to the top of the project list, and the results are great!
We aren’t quite sure what the builders envisioned this space to be used for, without any counterspace. In any case, we saw it as an opportunity to create a station for coffee, tea, and other drinks. Perhaps some people would call this a butler’s station? In any case, we decided we wanted to do a built-in, instead of just a table.
Our initial ideas included:
- A mini-fridge, with a glass door
- A counter on top of the fridge
- A small cabinet next to the fridge, depending on the sizes available
- An upper cabinet, with glass doors
We looked at created this custom, using the cabinets available in home stores; similar to what we had added to the laundry room in our previous home. However, this was stacking up to be a lot of finishing work, and the sizes weren’t quite lining up how we liked. We fortunately checked into IKEA’s kitchen cabinet system, which we knew nothing about as anytime we visited the store we would skip through that section. IKEA offers lots of options, including everything we had planned on our ideas list! And it all came in multiple colors, pre-finished. We chose the faux-walnut finish, and researched all the “extras” needed to complete the build.
The installation of the cabinets was fairly straightforward, only complicated by the limited time available to the young kids lifestyle. One great decision was to buy a variety of the trims offered, and work out how best to use them as the project goes along. The drawer and cabinet units are very customizable, we ended up with two drawers above the cabinet under the counter.
I was unable to find a comparison picture of the state before, but here’s what it looks like all completed.
So this project is complete and working great! We were able to clear off a lot of our kitchen counter space. There is only one remaining task, if I get to it; try to mount the spare matching handle onto the fridge door. The handles came in packs of two, so there is an extra one, and it would be neat if it matched at the bottom.