Before installing the baseboard in the osteria, I needed to build the bar counter/shelving unit, so that everything would fit properly along the walls. This project is taking me over a month to complete, so I’ll be posting photos in two stages.
I started by building the frame. The Minwax stain color is called “special walnut.”
The bar counter will be raised up on this base.
Here I’ve added shelves, some support dowels, and a countertop. I had to use balsa for the countertop, because it was easier for me to cut to size than bass wood. The stain penetrated differently, making it much darker. Knowing that the stain doesn’t cover glue very well, I had decided to stain all the pieces prior to assembling.
I also added some shelves behind the bar. Designing this was tricky. Because of the limited wall height, I needed to figure out exactly what was going on each shelf so that each one would be only as tall as it needed to be.
Here are a few of the items that will be going on these shelves.
To match the design of the bar counter in the real-life Osteria Al Vecchio Stallo, I added some 1/4″ vertical strips of balsa wood.
Next, I glued on the base.
To hide the unevenness of the balsa strips, I added a horizontal strip of balsa along the top edge.
I waited until this point to varnish the whole piece. It probably would have been easier to do this along the way, because it was rather difficult to reach a paintbrush inside all those deep shelves down below. I’ll know for next time!
Now all that is left is to make an L-shaped faux granite countertop, which I will be creating out of polymer clay. Stay tuned!
