How to Build a High Bar in a Kitchen

Creating a custom-built high bar for your kitchen is a relatively easy project. You can raise a base cabinet that matches your kitchen to the standard bar height of 42 inches by adding screw-on legs and a wide countertop. In addition to providing a casual eating space, the cabinet gives you extra storage for dry goods, baking sheets, pots and pans.

Tape measure
Kraft paper
Tape
1 Kitchen base cabinet
1 Sheet of 1-inch plywood
Saw
180-grit sandpaper
Tack cloth
Primer
Paintbrush
Paint
Stain
Rags
Polyurethane
Construction glue
Drill with a screwdriver bit
Wood screws, 2-inch
4 Table leg connectors
4 Table legs, 4 inches high
2 decorative brackets
1 piece of countertop, 42 inches wide

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the kitchen. Make a paper pattern of the high bar out of kraft paper. Tape it to the floor and walk around it to ensure that it doesn't block the kitchen's traffic flow. Allow enough space around the bar to open the oven, refrigerator and dishwasher doors. Generally, a 48-inch-wide bar seats two people.
- 2
  Turn the base cabinet you'll use for the bar upside down. Measure the bottom with a tape measure.
- 3
  Cut a piece of plywood to fit onto the bottom of the cabinet. Sand with 180-grit sandpaper to smooth the cut edges. Wipe with a tack cloth to remove the wood dust.
- 4
  Paint or stain the plywood to match the cabinet. If you are painting the plywood, brush on a coat of primer and allow to dry. Then brush on two coats of paint and allow to dry according to the manufacturer's instructions. If you are staining the plywood, apply the stain with a rag. Allow the stain to soak into the wood for a few minutes, then remove the excess stain with a rag. After the stain is dry, apply two coats of polyurethane and allow to dry completely.
- 5
  Draw a bead of construction glue around the bottom of the cabinet. Place the plywood on the cabinet, carefully aligning the sides.
- 6
  Drill screw holes every six inches around the perimeter, through the plywood and into the base cabinet. Screw the plywood to the base cabinet, using 2-inch wood screws.
- 7
  Add a table leg connector to each corner of the cabinet. Install two inches from each corner, using the enclosed screws. Mark and drill through the plywood, then screw the brackets to the bottom of the cabinet.
- 8
  Screw the 4-inch table legs or bun feet into the connectors. Turn the cabinet right side up.
- 9
  Attach the decorative brackets or corbels to the back of the cabinet, one on each side. Drill through the brackets and into the cabinet according to the manufacturer's directions. Attach the brackets with wood screws.
- 10
  Place the countertop on top of the cabinet. Align the countertop so that the front and sides overlap the cabinet by two inches and the back side extends 18 inches out, resting on the brackets.
- 11
  Drill through the cabinet top and into the bottom of the countertop. Attach the countertop to the cabinet with wood screws.

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