Industrial Work Bench Turned Coffee Bar

Melody
by Melody
Medium
I bought this industrial work bench at a flea market a couple years ago. It was once used in a print shop in CT. It was the perfect height for painting and as you can tell from the before pictures, I used it a lot.
Once we moved, I found I didn't use it in my new work area and it sat piled with junk in our basement.
I wanted to de-clutter my kitchen counters and thought the old work bench would work great in my kitchen.
The only downfall was it's current state and the fact it didn't have a shelf for storage. Luckily I had some reclaimed wood from another project hanging around that was perfect for this project. I added a shelf and supports, sanded and stained the wood top then finished the bottom of the cart with some Chalk Paintâ„¢ by Annie Sloan. I had to paint the wood shelf and the legs because I couldn't seem to match the color of the wood on the top.
To add to the industrial look, I added casters to the legs of the coffee bar. Now my counters are decluttered and I have a place to store our coffee stuff!
For more details and pictures you can see the original post here: http://www.mypassionfordecor.com/2015/07/industrial-work-bench-turned-coffee-bar.html
design bar
This is how the work bench looked before I got started. You can see by all the layers of paint and stain that I used this a lot for painting.
There wasn't a shelf for storage, so I knew I would need to add one. I used reclaimed wood I had leftover from another project.
This is the finished coffee bar. It fits all our coffee necessities and declutters the counters.
I love how the wood looks after sanding and staining. All the character and history are left...look at all those nails and marks! Love it!
The person who used the bench, wrote his name on the front. I didn't sand it off...I wanted to keep the character and history of the piece.
Melody
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Debi Ramos Debi Ramos on Jul 30, 2015
    Loving it! Great job! I seriously need to so something like this in my kitchen. Thanks for the idea.
    • Melody Melody on Jul 31, 2015
      @Debi Ramos Thank you!! I hope you find something!! It's a great and functional piece for sure
  • Georgia B Georgia B on Dec 20, 2016
    I would never have thought to use an industrial workbench as furniture in a home! I love the look of repurposed furniture, and this one has so much character. I'm going to have to look into doing something like this because it would be so nice to have more counter space in our kitchen! http://www.shelvingracklockers.com/products/
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