A Bar Top for a Kitchen Pass-Through

Undergoing an entire home renovation, their original granite bar top was removed to install new impact rated windows. The bar top had been used by their family for years for hosting and sharing meals through the passthrough window into the kitchen. They didn't want to lose that.

Coastal Florida has very different elements than Southeast Michigan. Tropical rains and constant humidity with high temps are expected year-round. We needed to build them a hardwood bar top that would last for many years. The bar top would be butting up against out-of-square stucco walls, which would be a challenge in itself. The client also wanted to match the look of their newly installed mahogany front door.

After talking it over with the client, we decided Brazilian Ipe would be the best choice for them. This very dense wood could handle the conditions Florida was going to throw at it. But this wood is heavy too, so we needed to make sure it had the proper support for daily use. The top had to be scribed to the stucco wall, along with a beveled cut on the back side to get it seated correctly. We set steel L brackets for the structural support and decorative maple corbels to hide them. No visible fasteners on this build. We cut and chiseled a pathway for the brackets to sit perfectly flush. Stainless-steel fasteners were key too, so nothing would corrode or fail over time. The maple corbels were stained darker to match the Ipe, then finished with a clear varnish. Ipe is naturally waxy and oily, so normal stain and varnish won't take to it, we used a penetrating Ipe oil instead, which is what actually brought the true color out.

The final result is a bar top with deep browns and reds matching the front door, with the maple corbels below tying it all together. They're hosting through that same window again, just on a top built to survive the climate this time.