Our New Backyard: Outdoor Kitchen Counter

Hi Everyone!

One of the excuses I have for not blogging for so long, is that we bought a brand new house in September 2013. We have been moving in and getting settled for 4 months now. With my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, etc., we have had a lot of interruptions, but we are slowly getting there..

 

Today I want to show off our DIY outdoor kitchen and the awesome light Hubby made to go with it.

 

We bought , shall we call it a shell for lack of a better word, for the counter area. Craigslist. It is made out of polystyrene, covered with cement,  hollow inside, and looked like this;

 

 

We could cut openings  where we wanted them, and put on a finish we liked.

So, my husband and one of his friends ,Lou, cut two squares in front, for cupboard doors,  and a square on the top left of the counter for the charcoal BBQ to go in.

 

Lou and Ann are our friends from San Jose, CA, who came to visit for the weekend of my birthday. Boy, did we put them to work! LOL! No, seriously, they were a great help. They might never visit us again, but I'm glad they were here to help us. Lou built the frame and poured the cement for the floor during Thursday while Niel was still at work, and Ann helped with the planting. ( A lot). 

  Ann, in our bare backyard.

  Lou, making the floor by flashlight! 

  Haha! He thought he could stop because it was dark, but Ann and I grabbed the flashlights and put him back to work!

On Friday, Niel and Lou built the cupboard doors, and lay the tiles on the counter.
 

My birthday party was on the Saturday, and we could use our new "kitchen" for the first time!

It wasn't done, but we loved it. 

I have the perfect door handles for these doors, but since it's Niel's project, I guess I will have to nag him wait until he warms to my idea. Looking at this picture, I realize I will have to age the hinges. They are way too shiny!
We both agree that the doors need to be stained a much darker brown. (Yay!)

 

I had several ideas for the finish, but in the end I went with the quickest, most affordable option;  I painted it with Modern Masters' rust paint to look like rusted metal. I talked about the product here.

 It is still a work in progress, but here are some more pics....

 

Notice the plug? Yep, they even did that, too. No need to get nervous for my sake...Lou used to be an electrician , so he could make sure we did not blow something up in the process.  :)

  I need to find some way to make the edges more finished; I thought of corner steel or wood painted to look like steel....not sure. Any ideas?

We found  the old railway tie many years ago , abruptly brought it home, then had no idea where to use it. Now it works perfectly as a footrest!

 

 Notice the brand new gas barbeque? Hubby jokingly said he bought it for me for my birthday. So I've decided to jokingly give him a boob lift for his birthday! Ha!

                           I got the Barstools  off of Craigslist too.

 

 I love that it even still had some kind of metal tag on it, too. It did not come with the bird poop. That is courtesy of the Crackels , who, for some reason, love my bar!

 

I know...the wood needs something...either darker stain, or metal rust, too.

 

 

Notice the lamp/ tree at the end of the bar? I'll tell you about it:

Hubby said he had an idea of what he wanted to do for a light at the bar and barbecue. I have to admit, when he explained it, I was not overly excited. I could not picture it.

 

He found an old dead tree stump in a dry riverbed ( does Arizona have any other kind? ) near our house. With a dremmel he made a small groove in the stump, to hide the electrical cord. See? It looks just like a crack in the wood.

 

 He also planted the piece of stump in cement, to make sure it is sturdy.

 

 

Then he used one of my thrift store lanterns that was supposed to hold a tea light candle.

 

With the light kit from another old , soon to be discarded light, voila! We now have an awesome, homemade, rustic, looks like we are camping, but most importantly FREE outside light at our bar!

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE it! It is most probably my favorite part of the bar!

 

 

Notice the "bug" flying  in the top picture?

It is actually a humming bird. We have a feeder right there at the window, and love watching them drink while we drink. Hah!

 

 

 

This has become our favorite spot to hang out. Even when its just hubby and me. He sits behind the counter, close to the little bar fridge behind one of the wooden doors, and I sit, or hang, like a regular bar fly on the counter!

 

Gorgeous Arizona sunset! 

 

Until next time, have a great week!

 

 

Bye for Now!

 

 

 

 

Joining these parties:

          That DIY Show off.  http://diyshowoff.com/category/other/diy-project-parade/