Patio Bar (aka Murphy Bar)

I love company. I love entertaining. I love cooking for large groups of people. I HATE having to go back in the house 5 million times to bring stuff outside. I also hate table clutter. I'll build a bar! Problem solved

When I got the FINAL idea in my head about what it would look like, I dragged myself out of my hammock and to Home Depot I went! I will try to be as detailed as possible, so you can recreate this because, quite honestly, it's PERFECT!

Materials Needed:

2- 8ft sections of Pine Select 1 x 6

1- 2' x 4' hardwood plywood

1- 3 ft section of Pine Select 1 x 2

# 3 chain, 5 ft in length (this will leave a little extra to cut off- each side needs about 2 ft.)

2 long hinges (piano hinge, but mine isn't that long)

Exterior screws

Eye hook with latch

"s" hooks and eye hooks (for chain)

decorative knob

paint and/or stain

heavy duty picture hangers

I used pocket holes to secure the corners

Measurements:

Box measures 36" x 21" (height include the back of the shelf on top)

Suggestions: Build the box first. Then lay the plywood on top and cut out for the perfect fit. Test and retest the hinge to make sure you are installing everything correctly and that everything closes. To attach to the house, I installed a "bracket", drilled into the studs through the hardiplank. I then mounted the box using the heavy duty picture hangers right to the bracket.

Unfinished (obviously)

To give it this "distressed" look, I used a dark walnut stain over the whole box. By the time I was done putting a coat of stain on the whole thing, I immediately began to paint over it with the color (in this case, it was a sage green "craft paint"). When you brush it on, some of the stain mixes with the color and may darken the color slightly. It also pokes through the paint giving it a very old and rustic feel. Remember: You can hardly mess up what's intended to look like it's messed up. So have fun with it and don't think too much about it.

I researched some "outdoor signs" on Pinterest to get an idea of what I wanted to put on the outside. I have tons of different sized/ style stencil letters, so I went with this look. 

For the inside, I wanted a vibrant color that 'popped' When the bar is stocked, the red background helps to contrast the contents and is really much more fun than just a dark stain interior.

This picture allows you to see just how compact it is as contrasted to the whole patio setup. It turned out better than I had expected. It got a clear coat of polyurethane to protect it from the elements and it just happened to shine it up a bit too! Bonus! 

I also installed a hook for a wine cork to hang on the inside as well.