DIY, DIY Furniture, Painted Furniture

We Don’t Do Easy At Our House- The Beverage Station Revealed

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What do you get when you add one artistic, stubborn chick to one math minded, if I build it I expect it to last forever dude? You get most of our projects. We don’t do easy at our house. A while back ( like February!) I saw on Pinterest a sewing cabinet turned into a beverage station. Here is the link to the posting I saw: Beverage Station.

It looked simple enough. Put something into the hole that the sewing machine once lived in and voila! Shortly after finding this project online I found a sewing cabinet at a thrift store. $12.12 for the cabinet. It was a basic sewing cabinet that had no machine inside. Probably a 1960’s version. I was visiting my daughter in North Carolina so what could be better than bring something to work on home? For some reason I do not seem to have a photo of it when I bought it. I hope you can forgive me. I think that my brain is completely gone with all the moving. Here is a photo of the inside before Hubby got busy cutting.

opening

I finally got the Garagemahal cleared enough that I could get moving on the beverage station. As I shared my idea with Hubby, I could see the wheels moving in his head. That is where the not easy part started. He decided that a sink would be the best thing to put in the station. A sink would drain when the ice melted without having to tip it over. I am embarrassed to tell you this, but we just so happened to have a stainless steel double sink in the hoard. You know those sinks that everyone is tearing out of their kitchen right now to put in under-mount sinks? That is what we had…well we actually had two.

Double Sink

Hubby got out his grinder. A scary machine that I do not touch. It sends sparks flying and takes some arm strength.

stainless steel

I now have two separate sinks instead of one double sink!

Grinder to make single sink

After he finished cutting the sink, he cut out a rough opening for the sink in the cabinet. The hole was not quite large enough.

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sewing machine to drink station2

As you see from this picture I also filled in the holes where the cabinet hardware was. I found one I liked a lot more at our local Restore for fifty cents. It will match the house better. Of course I am saving what I came on it for another project.

I liked the idea he had about dropping in a sink but the sink on top of the wood was going to keep the cabinet from closing flat. This is where the project becomes more complicated. Enter another tool I am not comfortable using. A router. Hubby routed out a groove on the top of the cabinet so that the sink would be recessed. A much better look.

Sewing machine to drink station

sewing cabinet to drink station

I know that it is not very noticeable here but the sink fits so much better now!

Painting began. First a coat of primer then Behr Sailboat Blue. My back porch is going to be colorful! By the way, we have now painted a chair, a table top, and the beverage station for just over 1/2 a quart of paint.

sailboat blue

sewing cabinet make over

I used floor poly that is nasty stuff on the entire cabinet. It is going to be on a covered porch but exposed to the elements so I wanted it to last. I even primed the inside of the cabinet and applied poly to that part too. I also had a bottle opener in my hardware collection. It is attached to the end of the cabinet. Here it is all finished.

Please go back and look at my inspiration post if you think this will be too complicated. I do love my beverage station and will be getting a lot of use out of it, especially since it will be as easy as emptying a bucket under it to get rid of the melted ice, but there are easier ways to make this cabinet. We just don’t do easy at our house. Enjoy the finished product.

beverage station 1

drink station

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Showing off my new dispenser.

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Bottle opener on the side

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I scrubbed the life out of this sink!

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When we are ready to drain the sink, a bucket collects the water.

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My cabinet hardware.

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we can use it like a table with the top closed

sewing cabinet bar

we had no ice at the house…poor planning on my part

sewing machine

I wanted you to see how steep the hill is. it was tricky getting this set up, but it will work great on our back porch!

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