Completely Free Pallet Wine Bar

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 We had a problem... A big 90's contemporary, orange and glass kind of problem... The light-well in our beautiful, rustic dining room stuck out like a sore thumb. It is a necessity because it allows both light and heat up and down from floor to floor, but was quite the eye sore. Sweet, I totally just rhymed... Because it was made with windshield glass it can hold quite a bit of weight, way more than most glass. I didn't want people to sit on it though, I wanted to cover it up, and I still wanted to be able to use it for light and heat. When we were moving in, all of our friends would sit on stools and use the well as a table. My wonderful friend Bev suggested making it into a bar. How brilliant! It was really too low for a bar though, I didn't want to cover up all the glass because of the light, but the biggest obstacle was my budget. Our budget for this project was zero... yup, you heard right, we didn't want to spend ANYTHING.

Thank goodness we have been lugging around a bunch of free, old pallets that we have been collecting! Four pallets fit on top of the bar PERFECTLY and I mean PERFECTLY! The slats allowed for the light to come up, the extra added height was the right amount for the wine crates and stools we already had, and the pallets were the right size to store wine bottles!

 The next thing I had to do was cover up the orange and glass tiles. I found some extra long, linen fabric my grandma was tossing away. I then staple gunned it to the bottom of the wood of the light-well. This way, when we leave Germany (kicking and screaming of course), the original light-well will look completely untouched. The light fabric allows a ton of light through as well, and tucks into the heat window perfectly. I can open and close it when I want to allow heat up. The bar seats seven and we use it all the time! 

 To create this look in your home, you could stack pallets to be the height that you need or lay some on top of those ugly folding tables. Put drop cloth underneath and pallets on top. It would be perfect for a wedding or event too!.

At night the whole thing glows and it looks like you are in a night club. I need to adjust my shutter speed to take a better picture for you.

 We are so pleased with our completely free wine (or anything) bar. Wine bar just sounds fancier (insert wink here). Remember, it is very possible to have a beautiful home on any budget...it just takes work...

To see how I created the bar's flower arrangement click here!