Basement Bar

The Bar was Brian's domain to put together.  I had the kitchen and kids' bathroom all designed (in my head), but was willing to let Brian make the decisions for the bar.
So, when he handed over the reigns on the bar, I was a little taken aback.  I hadn't really put any time into thinking about what it should look like (because I was too consumed with the other rooms).

I spent one night at home during the week mom was visiting in May, and used the cabinet catalogue and graph paper to basically try a few options until I felt I had it pretty nailed down.  Since I could no longer use butcher block on my island, I thought the bar would be a nice opportunity to use it there and help give it a warm, rustic look.  Problem?  If I did wood countertops, I couldn't figure out what cabinet finish to use - certainly not another wood grain.

I settled on a painted and lightly distressed black for the cabinets.  All this over the 16-inch terra cotta tiles I fell in love with (and are cheap!) and had to find a place for them in my house (I found two - the bar and the laundry room).   So, obviously I'm completely winging it here - I'm not even checking the finishes on samples together at one time. 

On a side note - little did I know that while I thought getting a bigger tile would be easier/better, it apparently has potential to create more work for the contractor.  Oops.

 The back wall will have narrow cabinet and shelves.  I opted out of the arching valance atop the tall cabinets because I had in mind to put a large mirror or something on that wall and didn't want the valance framing or blocking it.  
Computer illustrations of the design from Menards:

Back wall of cabinets and wine shelves, including appliance garage

Inside the bar: microwave, refrigerator, turntable for trash/recycling bins