Painting Ideas for a Rec Room Bar

Paint the Cabinets

• 1

  Clean the cabinets thoroughly all over. Remove all of the bar drawers and doors and take off any handles on these pieces that you do not want painted, if you can. Place the hardware pieces into plastic zippered sandwich bags and put them in a safe place out of the way.

• 2

  Wrap any handles that you could not remove and cover any other details that you do not want painted using painters tape. Make sure each piece of tape overlaps the previous one slightly, or paint may get between the seams. Sand all of the cabinet wood evenly to remove any existing varnish or other protective finish.

• 3

  Wipe the cabinets thoroughly inside and out with rags to remove the sanding dust. Apply two to three coats of a primer that contains a sealer to the cabinets, drawer fronts and doors, waiting 45 minutes between coats and two to three hours after the last coat for the primer to dry.

• 4

  Apply paint all over the cabinets and accessories evenly using a small paint roller and let it dry completely. Sand the surfaces again lightly and wipe them clean. Repeat this step and then add a final coat of paint for three smooth coats; let the cabinets, doors and drawer fronts dry undisturbed.

Paint the Bar Top

• 5

  Clean the bar top well with a mild kitchen surface solution. Remove the cleanser with a damp rag and let the surface dry completely. Sand the bar top lightly but evenly all over and wipe with a second damp rag to remove the dust.

• 6

  Apply a single coat of primer to the bar top and let it dry three to four hours. Roll on one coat of paint in long, even lines. If you are going for a stone look, use the lightest of your three colors here.

• 7

  Wait 24 hours and apply a second coat of paint to the bar top. To imitate stone, daub the medium paint shade onto the bar top surface with a slightly damp rag. Wait another day and lightly daub on the darkest paint color just as you did the medium color for a faux stone finish.

• 8

  Wait another 24 hours. Apply polyacrylic topcoat over the paint; use three layers, waiting a full day between each. Let the bar top dry for 24 to 36 hours and reinstall any drawers and doors that were removed.