Adjacent to a small dining room with a dinette table, the walls of this 1950s buffet/bar/butler’s pantry area were finished with flat walnut paneling.
Here’s how the designers created this dining area’s real midcentury modern look — one that you could recreate.
The 6-inch deep recess in the wall behind it was lined with Old Craftsman Pine Weldwood wall paneling, painted white. Glass shelves were added to the space to hold everything from liqueurs to an ice bucket.
The bar itself was an open-back cabinet made of 3/4″ Old Craftsman Pine paneling. Twelve-inch squares of the wall paneling, arranged in a checkerboard fashion, were attached to the front with contact cement.
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The bar stands on ready-made brass legs. Two molding strips were fastened to the face for decoration, and all the edges were also covered with molding strips. The top was made of white Micarta laminate.
Chrome-colored lighting — a mod pendant lamp centered over the table, and a set of three circular lights mounted on a vertical pole.
Decorative tie-ins are the walnut molding strips attached to the wooden stairs, which were first covered with yellow vinyl floor covering that was the same as the floor.
