Beverage Station

I love Pinterest and can spend way too much time browsing that website!  My Hubbers probably wishes I had never found it because I'm always showing him a project I want to tackle.  When I say "I" it really means, I would like him to help me!  I can cook, bake, sew, and garden but building things has never been one of my strong points.  Putting Part A into Part B just doesn't resonate with me.  Thankfully, my Hubby is quite handy with tools and can usually manage to do everything I ask of him!

Over a year ago, I saw a picture of a beverage station made from an old door.  I knew this would be perfect in our back patio, a nice place to keep the wine, glasses, and other beverage paraphernalia when we entertain.  I set out looking for an old door.  One would think they would be easy to find, not so!  My cousin (thanks, Robin!) came through for me with a door that was in her in-law's barn. It sat in our garage for almost a year before I started tackling the project over Memorial Day weekend.

My Hubby set the door up on sawhorses and I got busy with the task of stripping the old paint off of it.  I didn't want a pristine-painted piece but this door had so many coats of paint on it, the old paint had to come off.  My goodness, what a job that was!  The first stripper I bought barely made a dent so I had to buy some stronger stuff (I'm sure it was hazardous stuff, too!) The weekend was quite warm so I got up each morning at 5 and worked on it some more. My Hubby was on a bike trip that weekend and when he returned I had it almost ready to go.  He used some of his muscle to get the really stubborn spots.

At this point, I really didn't realize how many coats of old paint I was dealing with!

I'm not so sure I'm gung-ho about stripping furniture again!

In June he went on a 2-week biking trip.  Before leaving, he moved the table to the garage where I spent a few more mornings painting it. Then production stopped because I am not a good builder and shelves and legs needed to be added.  We were away from home to drag races, the Napa Valley, and it was so hot here that we didn't want to spend time in the garage. The last few weeks I've been doing what wives do best, nag, and he finished the door for me.  We had shelves made to fit at the local lumber company.  Our contractor friend gave me some old stair banisters he had in a pile. I found the hummingbird brackets on Amazon. In a few nights he had done the construction work and I was tasked with doing the touch-up painting.

Of course, I had to add a hummingbird element!

Reproduction bottle opener.

Original, and unfinished, door knob!

I love it!  It turned out just the way I dreamed it would! I know it will be a very functional piece for us. He's quite happy with it, too.  Good thing, as I have other Pinterest-inspired projects in the works for him to help me with!