Belly Up...

I have always lamented the fact that homes in California don't have basements. I have fond childhood memories of playing in the basements of the homes we had in Illinois. I remember my dad having a workbench in one back room and his CB radio on the bar in another. I remember someone else's basement for how big it seemed. It was fairly dark except for the cool Hamm's Beer light on the wall. It also had a big bar.

I had always thought the ultimate in home parties was to have everyone over to hang out around the bar in the basement. But, in California, it just doesn't happen. I have been getting bar paraphanalia as Christmas and birthday presents for the last couple of years and devised a plan to create my own "virtual" basement bar. I have a 3 car garage. It is 2 cars wide, but one half of it is 2 cars deep. The back part is where I have my tools and is also used for storage. I've been slowly putting my storage racks on wheeled platforms to maximize the versatility of the space. My goal is to be able to move everything out and use that space as my "basement".

I started work on my bar last weekend. I got the plans from an internet site (barplan.com). It's worth checking out if you are into this sort of thing. I paid a one-time subscription and am very pleased. The plans lend themselves to individual modifications. I am building a variation on the "TailGator". It is built in sections that can be taken apart for storage of transportation. I figure I can pull it out when I want to have friends over to watch a game or play poker. When I'm done, I can put the bar away and use the space as a workshop.
The next steps are to build the interior shelving and to purchase the panels for the exterior. I haven't decided whether to stain it light or dark. I am currently leaning toward dark, but that decision is subject to change until I purchase the stain.

It's nice to be making progress. Come on over when it's done, and I'll serve you up a cold one.