Bar Countertop

I didn’t realize how large the bar was until we decided it was time to go countertop shopping. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that we could find a scrap somewhere and do this all on a budget. Once I discovered this “scrap” would have to be from one of those gigantic kitchen islands that you see in magazines, I decided it was time to leave dreamworld and start shopping.

Because this bar requires 24 square feet of material, which is comparable to the size/price we would be spending to replace the countertop in the kitchen, we quickly said goodbye to granite among other things and hello to the wonders of new laminate technology.

After several attempts to go the cheapest way possible (pre-made countertop), we realized that just wasn’t going to work due to size, etc.* and that custom was the only way to go.

And since Home Depot was having a laminate sale over the weekend – they were the winners. Just a note though, to anyone wanting to go custom at Home Depot, the minimum is $250. We squeaked by with a grand total of $258, and this included a Group B laminate.

The laminate we picked is Wilsonart Milano Amber quarry finish.


We really liked the faux-granite look, shine and texture it offered. And even better, Home Depot carries this style in a pre-made countertop as well, so once we are ready to upgrade the wet bar to this matching countertop – we won’t have to meet the $250 minimum.


Reality did hit Brent though, when we discovered the countertop would be delivered in 2-3 weeks. So while we won't be making our Father's Day deadline, we now have a more realistic deadline to follow for getting everything done.

* We discovered the one thing hardware stores will not cut – pre-made countertops. Even after offering to pay them, will still got denied.