Bar Furniture

[Jake_Parrott]

My liquor collection has recently grown (just) into the triple digits, and my wife was starting to razz me about the overflow from our IKEA bakers' rack that was all over the floor in the corner of our family room. It was time, as the commercials say, for better IKEA.

Lo and behold, we found it; of course, it was in the "office furniture" section. For those of you perusing the catalog or a store, it's the ALVE corner computer workstation. It's essentially a 37" equliateral triangle with the corners squared off, and it's 79" high. There is a 27" or so tall bottom compartment, then a main shelf and two adjustable shelves in the upper compartment (all three shelves can be set at at least 16" clearance to accomodate even the tallest grappa bottles). And it HOOVERs bottles. I put an 18-bottle wine rack in the back of the bottom shelf for back-stock, all my 1.75Ls and liqueurs (and mixing brandies) in the bottom, about 45 bottles of mid-grade stuff on the main shelf (which covers the whole interior--though the bottles don't), and about 20 bottles each on the upper shelves--one shelf whiskey, the other for grappa/brandy/marc/cognac/armagnac, rum, and tequila.

And last, but not least, the workstation comes with a pull-out keyboard tray. But this one's flat, not tilted like a lot of them. Pull-out service tray! I'm getting a small rectangle of plate glass cut to cover it.

We had priced custom-built bars designed to handle and display this level of stock, and most were between $1500-$3000. This workstation, with extra wine rack and plate glass, came to under $400. Assembly wasn't easy (my wife, who's the handy one--I cook--did most of it, and it took about 4 hours), but it didn't required power tools or any ridiculous intuition. I'll try to get a picture up later.

[bluesbassdad]

J.P.,

Is this close to what you have?

If so, I congratulate you for seeing the alternate use for it. I lack the imagination to do that. If I were not in need of a computer desk, I would never have ventured into that section of the store/catalog.

One nit -- I'm curious regarding your description, "equilateral". A footprint consisting of three, 60 degree angles (even with apexes truncated) would create wedge-shaped spaces on each side if the piece were place in a corner. In fact, are its sides parallel to the walls?

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[Jake_Parrott]

That's exactly the piece!

I have a picture now. It is attached. Of note: the bottles on the "main" shelf are two and three-deep, and there is some back-stock in the hidden corners of the bottom shelf.

[musher]

I noticed some bottles on their side in the bottom part. If those aren't wine, you might want to keep an eye on them. Whiskey bottle corks aren't quite as good as wine bottle corks, and the whiskey has a different effect on the cork than wine, so they might leak, or start to cause the cork to deteriorate.

Of course, that all depends, too, on how long you expect those bottles to be sitting there unopened!

[Jake_Parrott]

Yeah. Not 20 years.

[pepcycle]

Dave is right.

Technically this is an isoceles (sp?) right triangle with truncated 45's.

Now, prove the shelves must be congruent.

[bluesbassdad]

That looks even better and more functional than I had envisioned.

Someone else has already mentioned the inadvisability of storing bourbon bottles horizontally. I won't belabor the point -- except to say that I have personally ruined an irreplaceable bottle in that way.

Seeing the empty space in the center of some shelves has given me an idea. What if you, or whoever is handy in your family , built some stairstep inserts (for the bourbon in the back rows) to allow use of more of the depth of each shelf, while still providing reasonable visibility and access?

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[luv2hunt]

OK, the cheap route to give you the "stair step" alternative.....they make one, two and three level plastic shelf things for you to use for canned goods in your cupboard. They're the perfect depth for a bottle of bourbon the size of the new antique collection. They won't work for a wide or squat bottle.

At my house.....that's the alternative I'd choose to not have to listen to the cussing when the handy man has out the power tools!

Dawn

[Jake_Parrott]

The top two shelves won't hold that kind of weight.

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

It looks great, Jake.

Now, if I only had an empty corner in my house...

Ed

[pepcycle]

I have a similar unit in my bedroom that I got from Earthwood Furniture, unfinished. I foolishly use it as an entertainment center, blanket storage unit. I knew there was a reason I liked that piece. Now, how do I get the blankets out and replace with spirits without ending up at the marriage counselor (again!!).

[Jake_Parrott]

Get another one?

[pepcycle]

Of Course.

Add another!!!

BTW, the only room in the house that is off limits for whiskey storage is the bedroom. I'll have to put in another room.

[gr8erdane]

I'm surprised you haven't buried bottles in the back yard....

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

I have got to do something. Most of my bottles are on the floor of my book room. The rest are on the bookshelves. That blocks the view of the books and I can hardly walk in there anymore. I have actually considered looking for a studio apartment in the area to set up as a bar/den. Not that I can afford that. But like I said, I have to do something and there is just no room to do it in.

Ed

[Jake_Parrott]

Bottles on the floor was my problem. I'm telling you, this was a pretty elegant solution--actually picked up wall and floor space from my previous bar.

[gr8erdane]

Ed, The floor is the most used surface in the house. Try using the ceiling. You might think this is a joke but I'm thinking suspending some kind of racks from the ceiling in areas little used if you're handy with heavy wire and a pair of pliers. Just think of the lighting effects from suspended bottles! Just build the racks to where the bottles are on an angle rather than straight vertical or horizontal. Just a thought from someone who thinks outside the box but should probably be locked inside it.