Coffee and Wine Bar Renovation: One Room Challenge
Do you love a good before and after? Well, I have a good one for you today. We took on the One Room Challenge and completed a total renovation of our Coffee and Wine Bar in eight weeks. participant’s rooms. I had such a good time participating as a guest for the one-room challenge this year. Be sure to click on the link above to see all of the other participants work.
After seeing the final results, I wondered how I lived in that dark, deary room for so long!
It was a lot of work, and I suppose I had put it off.
I am grateful for the one-room challenge that motivated me and helped me get the job done.
In addition, I appreciate Total Boat Epoxy and @Amerockhardware for sponsoring me for this challenge.
Let me show you how we renovated our coffee and wine bar for the one room challenge
This is it, the before picture of our coffee and wine bar! This room sits in the center of our downstairs and has no windows, so it tended to be very dark.
An interesting fact, our home is a historical landmark, and a lot of the history of our home happened in this room. The city Postmaster lived in our home, and this room was the Postal room. This is where you would come to collect your mail and pay your taxes. Interesting, right?
Of course, this room has been updated since those days, and it was turned into a bar area.
It is open to our family room and is a perfect room for entertaining. For us, it serves as an extension to our kitchen and family room. Currently, we call it our Coffee and Wine Bar. This room tends to be where friends and family hang out when they are over. It’s the perfect place to put hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and dessert and keeps them out of the kitchen.
For the first step of the one-room challenge renovation, we had to remove everything from the room. UGH! this was the worst part as it all had to sit in the dining room and wait until we were finished to put it back. If you know me, you will know I don’t like to live in chaos like this.
Create a Mood Board
Next, I created a mood board to inspire me. This board had the color pallete I wanted to use for my coffee and wine bar, along with images that inspired me and images of items I was planning on using in the room.
My color scheme was blue and white with pops of gold hardware (a tribute to my sweet mom who loved blue and white). The countertop and backsplash were to be white.
I was not up to replacing the countertops and tearing out the backsplash, so I came up with two fabulous ideas to fix this problem without tearing the old countertop and backsplash out.
Prepare and Paint the Cabinets
Painting cabinets is a big job and not one I wanted to tackle myself, so I brought in the professionals from @touchupandfinishing. They did a fantastic job, and I am so happy!!! The hardest part of the painting process for me was choosing the color! Do you struggle with this too?
The paint store loves me, LOL! I think I bought twelve cans of paint before I narrowed it down to Normandy Blue from @BenjaminMoore. This was the perfect blue for me, not too light, not too dark, and just the right amount of grey.
Here you can see the body of the cabinets had been painted, but the doors had not been replaced yet. The painters took all of the doors to their shop to spray them. You can also see what a yellow cast the countertop and backsplash are giving the room; truly scary! lol
Install Lighting
While we were waiting for the doors, hubby put up this gorgeous chandelier from New York Lighting and new pendant lights from Amazon.
Pour Epoxy Countertops
The third job for this one-room challenge was to pour the Total Boat epoxy. Yup, we poured epoxy right over my old countertops, can you believe it?
@totalboat was so gracious to sponsor me and supplied me with all of the epoxy to get this job done. This was such an exciting part of the project and I will be doing an entire blog post dedicated just to this process.
It took us approximately three days to complete the job. My dear friend Vanessa from @islandgirlewear was so gracious to come and help me. Vanessa is an epoxy expert and since this was a rather large job, I did not want to tackle it alone.
I won’t tell you the whole process, but I have to say it was so much fun, kind of like finger painting. I first painted the countertops with a particular epoxy undercoat.
Then we poured one layer of colored epoxy, and then another layer of clear epoxy.
Vanessa and I did an IG live while we were pouring, and you can view it here.
Can you even believe how good this looks? It indeed looks just like marble.
Install Backsplash
Once the countertops had cured for five days, it was time to work on the backsplash for our coffee and wine bar.
I think this was the most challenging part of the project. Thank goodness for our dear friends Dan and Kathy, who graciously gave their time to come down from Northern California to lead this part of the project.
Dan and David bought all of the materials the week before the painting started. This way, they could get everything cut and then the painters sprayed the pieces before they installed the backsplash.
However, electrical outlets needed to be changed from beige to white and a sink that needed to be seated again. According to the men, I had a long list, haha!
I am so appreciative of the help our friends gave us; we could not have done this without them.
The best part was that this backsplash was being cemented right over the tile, so there was no need to rip the old tile out.
Doors and drawers are back on, and you can really see how things are coming together now.
Install Hardware
Lastly comes my favorite part. The icing on the cake!
I was so fortunate to have collaborated with @Amerockhardware for this gorgeous champagne gold hardware.
I chose the Winsome pulls in three different lengths and the Candler Wallplates. You won’t believe how easy they are to install. Check out my IG live, where I show you exactly how easy this is.
After: Coffee and Wine Bar Renovation One Room Challenge
And I have to say I am so giddy to share these final reveal pictures with you!
Can you even believe this is the same room? I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled I am with the end results.
Lastly, if you want to try a renovation, I want to encourage you. You can do so many amazing things, don’t be afraid to try something new. Also, you don’t have to spend crazy amounts of money to get beautiful results.
I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed this project.
If you love this post, you can shop my Coffee and Wine Bar for all of the items I used from my Amazon shop
You may also enjoy some of my other recent posts
I love your transformation! I would really like more information on how you did your backsplash. It looks beautiful and so much better than just painting the tile.
Hi Sandra, thank you so much for your kind comment. We used the MDF bead board from Home Depot. We cut all of the pieces, and then I had them sprayed in the paint shop.
We used tile glue to glue the boards to the tile, so we did not remove the old tile. We then framed the entire backsplash with 1 1/2″ wide trim. I may have some other images I could sent to you.
Wowza! It looks aaaahhhhmazing! I so need to do this. How did you cover the edges of the bead board? Hoping to get to this soon!
Hi Cindy, I am not sure I understand your question. The beadboard does not have any epoxy on it. Do you mean the edges of the countertops?
My jaw is hanging open after seeing this transformation! Like the rest of us, the epoxy countertops are unbelievable. I’ll shut my mouth now and just say I’m featuring your space for next Monday’s All About Home. Thanks so much for coming by to share all the beauty. Hope you’re feeling better now.
Hi Debra, thank you for you wonderful news and your kind comments. It was such a fun project and I loved the epoxy pouring.
Also, I am posting a full tutorial on the epoxy process tomorrow. I am feeling much better from my surgery, and then I got covid. Ugh, can’t seem to catch a break, but I do believe the worst is behind me. Have a great week end.
Wendy, do you have a detailed blog post about the epoxy treatment on your countertops? Is it necessary to have an epoxy expert like your friend? I would LOVE to try this but would like more information~level of difficulty? What would you do differently to prepare, during the process, etc? I am so amazed over the transformation of your coffee and wine bar….wow.
Hi Mary, I am so sorry for the late reply. Many of my comments went to spam. Then I caught the Covid bug and am down for a while. Funny you should ask, I am posting a tutorial on how to pour the epoxy on Saturday. I am also happy to help answer any questions. are you planning to pour inside or outside? How many square feet?
Wendy, I am speechless. The transformation is amazing, particularly the countertops and backsplash. Who knew you could even do that? Wow. Such an impressive renovation. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you so much, Mary. We love this new look. I am happy to chat with you if you are interested in doing this. It takes a little practice, but I am glad to share what I know. You can text me or e-mail me if you would like. 626 484 0652, [email protected]
What an amazing transformation, Wendy… and what an amazing space! I can’t even! Thanks for sharing at Tuesday Turn About. I’m delighted to be featuring your post at this week’s party! Pinned!
Thank you so much Julie, I am so honored. It was a very fun project with lots of DIY, we are certainly enjoying the end results. I cant wait to pin again to your party.
Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful. Congratulations on a great job.
Thank you, Rachel, it was a lot of work, but I am so happy with the outcome!
Wendy when you said you were going to epoxy the countertops, I have to be honest – I was worried they wouldn’t turn out well but my goodness they are gorgeous and look absolutely perfect! The way you got it to work on the edge too is amazing. The whole project is beautiful, I love it all and I still can’t believe this is just your coffee bar…wow!!! I promise I will never have even the slightest bit of of doubt in you going into the future.
Crystal, you are so sweet! I have to laugh as I, too, had no idea what those countertops would turn out like, but I love trying new things and learning new skills.
It also took some convincing my husband as he was not sure either, but he sure loves it now. LOL Have a great weekend.
Wendy, this is the most amazing transformation! I’m blown away by so many things. The cabinet paint color … gorgeous. And the epoxy countertop transformation. Wow. Who knew?! I adore the new backsplash and of course your glorious hardware. I love this space in your home. It’s the size of my entire kitchen. I’m sure you, your family and friends are enjoying it all the more now. Beautifully done! xo
Thank you so much Juliet. It was a very fun, yet challenging project. I enjoyed learning so many new skills. I am looking forward to having friend over to enjoy very soon.
It looks so good! Does not even look like the same space! I love every single thing you pIcked!
Thank you Danielle. It makes my entire house feel so much lighter. I can’t wait to see your kitchen.
Wendy this is absolutely gorgeous! Congratulations on a fabulous job!
Thank you so much Suzanne! I can’t wait to see yours too!
This is truly an astounding makeover!!! But, of course I knew it would be with you at the helm! It’s truly fabulous in every way! Super congrats!
Thank you so much Diane. I am so glad we have each other to carry us through these challenges. I cannot wait to see your bathroom reveal. I know it will be fabulous. I need to talk to you about that gorgeous finish on the countertop. I love the color and want to put it on a mirror.
The transformation is simply amazing! What a fun spot to hang out on a bar stool and chat with others. I can’t wait to see how you did the epoxy countertop. That’s very intriguing. You did a terrific job! Enjoy!
Thank you Lynn, it was a very fun project. I especially loved doing the countertops. that post will be coming soon. Thank you my friend for always being so supportive. You were truly one of the first to welcome me to this blogging world with open arms.
Wow what a transformation. Love it.
Thank you so much, I appreicate you taking the time to stop by and check out my blog.