LACK/MONGSTAD/BESTÅ bar

Materials:
IKEA BESTÅ shelf unit (201.021.54)
IKEA BESTÅ shelf unit (501.021.57)
IKEA BESTÅ black glass top panel (901.965.35)
IKEA BESTÅ VARA glass door (701.785.80) x2
IKEA INREDA drawer without front (901.812.23)
IKEA BESTÅ… VARA drawer front (501.473.73)
IKEA INREDA bottle rack (901.965.21) x2
IKEA INREDA mirrored glass shelf insert (501.965.42)
IKEA DIODER LED light strip set (501.923.65)
IKEA MONGSTAD mirror (000.815.91)
IKEA LACK wall shelf (401.037.51)
The Container Store oak undercabinet stemware rack (390040) x3

Description:
After spending over a month shopping around for bar furniture and not finding any one piece that was "just right," we resolved to hack together our own. We had started off thinking about doing another EXPEDIT bar, but after walking around the IKEA showroom, inspiration struck and we put together this LACK/MONGSTAD/BESTÅ bar.

We assembled the BESTÅ shelf units and put them together to form a three-wide unit. Before doing anything else, we realized we had to put in the DIODER lights because we wouldn't have any other way to do so once it was wall-mounted. We put a hole in the middle unit where the drawer would later be so that we could string through and hide the lighting control in the drawer. The shelf units with lights were mounted on the wall with the top about waist high.

We then installed the mirrors in the middle unit, followed by the bottle racks, and then the drawer. Next, we put the glass shelves into the side units and then installed the doors. We ended up not using any of the wooden shelves that came with the BESTÅ.

The LACK shelf was the next thing to be mounted. The oak stemware racks from The Container Store were the nicest racks we could find, and the color provided a nice contrast against the black-brown of the rest of the bar. One of the racks had to be trimmed to length so that the three could fit within the span of the shelf. We pre-drilled the holes to mount the racks into the bottom of the shelf before putting it up, since the holes to mount the LACK to its bracket would be blocked by the racks. Once the shelf secured to the wall, we finally mounted the racks to the underside of the shelf.

Finally, the MONGSTAD mirror was hung in place between the LACK shelf and the BESTÅ… shelves. With everything hung and mounted, we finished off the bar with the black glass panel, which provided a nice surface for our bar.

We're thinking about applying a decal to the mirror (perhaps Guinness or Johnnie Walker) to really give it that pub feel. Now to stock it!

~ R Truong