Easy DIY Outdoor Fold-Down Bar Table
Today is the day… the last day of Turning Tables DIY! *sad face* We hope you have enjoyed all the amazing projects and ideas this week as much as we have — and be sure to check out the link party for even MORE amazing DIY tables! Our final guest: Vanessa, made a brilliantly easy DIY fold-down bar table on her back patio, with easy access to her kitchen through that window for easy food and drink serving! It’s similar to this drop-down buffet table, but even easier to make PLUS when it’s folded down, it doubles as decor for the patio. See, brilliant! Get all the details from Vanessa below (and check out all of the #TurningTablesDIY posts here — be sure to subscribe by email or RSS and follow along over on Facebook so you won’t miss a thing in the future!)
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How to Build an Easy Fold-Down Bar Table
by Vanessa from Tried & True
Hi, lovely Remodelaholic readers, my name is Vanessa Brady and I blog over at Tried & True. Usually, I’m up to my elbows in craft glue and scrapbook paper but every so often, I try my hand at fun and easy DIY projects for my home and garden. Here are some of my latest DIY projects:
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Mother of Invention
As the famous saying goes, necessity was definitely the mother of invention when it came to making this Fold Down Bar Table. We love throwing backyard get-together’s but with so many little kids running around, we never felt comfortable with having a full bar available for our guests. We needed a way to keep the alcohol high enough that the kids couldn’t reach but still accessible for the average sized adult. That’s when I thought, “Why not attach a bar-height table to our house that could be folded away when not in use?!”
The Process
Making this Fold Down Bar Table is really easy as long as you have the right supplies! I looked at every local home store and, unfortunately, couldn’t find any folding shelf brackets. Luckily, Amazon had these great S Parker 16″ Folding Shelf Brackets available (on Prime to boot!) which fit our 16″ by 5′ board perfectly.
Hidden In Plain Sight
Not only was I looking forward to having a bar table to entertain with but also loved that it would help camouflage some of the ugly pipes on the outside of our house. Unfortunately, because of these pipes, we had to add wood planks to extend the flat surface flush with the pipes. Just a few extra steps, not a big deal! Another plus to having a Fold Down Bar Table in this location is that I can easily take food and drinks from the kitchen to the outdoors by simply opening up the window above the shelf. Talk about fast food!
The Good Life
After the board was attached to the brackets, I cut the words, “The Good Life,” from vinyl and stuck in place on the plank. I then rolled over the entire piece with a RECLAIM painting kit in Pewter and allowed to dry completely before removing the vinyl stickers. Since the table will be folded flat the majority of the time, this is a great “blank canvas” that you can do anything with. Whether you paint an inspirational saying or go with attractive geometric shapes, you can really make this Fold Down Bar Table a striking conversation piece for your backyard!
We’ve been using our Fold Down Bar Table for over a year and still love the look and convenience of it. Thank you so much for letting me join in on the table fun over here on Remodelaholic!
Lorene has been behind the scenes here at Remodelaholic for more than a decade! She believes that planning projects and actually completing them are two different hobbies, but that doesn't stop her from planning at least a dozen projects at any given time. She spends her free time creating memories with her husband and 5 kids, traveling as far as she can afford, and partaking of books in any form available.
You seriously stopped me in my tracks because I’ve been telling the Mr I want to do this on our patio door but we couldn’t find the proper brackets! This is BRILLIANT!
Question: How much weight do you think it could take? I was wanting to use one of those beverage dispensers for tea/punch with a few glasses on it. Do you think the brackets would hold something like that?