DIY Bar Shelving

Here's a story of an evolving bar. Almost 5 years ago we bought a wine rack that holds glasses and has 4 shelves to hold wine bottles. This is great until we started buying more and more liquor to make mixed drinks and soon enough we had no space on top for all the bottles. They were all spilling over onto other tables and counters.

Now this makes me sound like an alcoholic, but I assure you that is not the case, we just like variety and to have things on hand.

So when we moved to a new house we decided to add two shelves on the wall for the liquor bottles. Our challenge was that we needed it to be able to hold a lot of weight. Glass and liquid can be very heavy!

So we went to Home Depot and bought a couple of brackets that were rated high on the weight scale. I don't remember how much exactly, but over and above 50 pounds at the very least. Then we bought two 4'x12"x1" pieces of pine wood.

Using 120 grit sandpaper we sanded all sides. You especially want to get the ends really well because they tend to be very rough and it becomes difficult to get the stain into the "holidays" as my Dad always called the deeper holes in the wood. I try to avoid having to stab the wood with the paint brush. 

We chose this stain, although you can choose any stain you wish that would match your decor. You can also just paint it, but be sure to primer first if you choose to paint. I really liked the idea of seeing the wood grain with this and giving it a somewhat organic look that you can't get with paint. See my post on Paint Brush Cleaning to see how to clean your brush following the use of an oil-based stain should you choose one. 

There are a couple different options on how to apply the stain. Some use a rag and some use a brush. A contractor told me the easiest way to get an even stain is to paint it on with a paint brush and then take a rag and wipe the excess off after you are done with that coat. I used both methods in this project and he was right, the paint brush method was easier and more even. 

You want to sand VERY softly with a 220 grit sandpaper between coats (I don't remember why, I was just following directions. Google it or leave me a comment with the reason if you know the answer). The more coats of stain you use, the darker the stain becomes. You can really do as many as you like. I chose 3 for this project. 

Follow the directions on the can for drying time in between coats. 

After finally finishing the 3 coats of stain. I utilized a polycrylic protective finish to protect the wood. If you are sealing something that is not going to get too much use or will only hang on the wall 1-2 coats is probably fine. If you will be using it a lot, do 3-4 coats. This dries MUCH faster than the stain so once you get to this portion it will get done pretty fast. Since these are bar shelves and we will be taking bottles on and off the shelves a bunch, I chose 3 coats of stain per my contractor's advice. 

We then used shelving screws to hang our brackets and shelves onto the wall. Make sure you use a level, you don't want it to look crooked! 

FINAL PRODUCT: