Apr 15

InTheMo Bar.

Long story short…when I first moved to NYC, I was roommates with an awesome guy, Josh, living in an awesome loft in Brooklyn. Soon after, Josh took off on a world-wide adventure growing a company called InTheMo with his long time friend and colleague. Fast forward 5 years, and InTheMo now has offices in several cities, and the New York team has moved out of Josh’s living room into a beautiful 3500 sq ft loft near Union Square. What does every interactive digital media company need? A 30 foot bar. That’s where I come in.

I definitely couldn’t do it alone, so my boyfriend Aaron came on board to tackle this beast with me. We started by collecting inspiration images.  Even though we were building a bar in a very tech-savvy office, we wanted to give it a rustic look to contrast that. Most of our favorite inspiration rooms incorporated reclaimed materials and industrial or vintage fixtures, which was a great direction to go in for a big bar on a budget.

pin it!As a company fueled by young creatives, it was important to have a place for colleagues, friends, and clients to come together over a beer or an espresso to discuss exciting projects and potential collaborations. The goal was for this office to eventually become a great place to screen films, host music performances, and of course party. This is a pic of the back corner of the loft, future home of the bar.

pin it!Pondering proportions. Mapping out the footprint with masking tape.

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pin it!We bought the reclaimed wood from a guy we found on Craigslist.  We had barely enough to wrap around the bar, so we cut it into smaller pieces to minimize waste and stacked the planks in a contemporary pattern.

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pin it!We stained some slightly moldy wood lathe 15 different colors which gave it the perfect rustic patina. We staggered the pieces and nailed them to the wall surrounding the custom liquor shelf and all along the window wall.

pin it!Cutting sheets of steel for the foot rest, one of my favorite details. I have to give Aaron props for doing most of the hard core building all by himself. He’s super talented. A bar of this size is a beast of a job for 2 people in a time crunch. It was literally just the two of us working on this project every night after the office folk went home, like DIY vampires. At least now I can cross “build a bar” off my design bucket list!

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pin it!That’s Mo the moose.

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pin it!pin it!InTheMo provides production/video/web services all over the world. Learn more about them here!

Posted by Jen at 2:43 pm
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14 Comments:

  1. Rorr says:

    Mo is the coolest! (So is the bar, of course.) Great textured look, and the vintage film projector is a nice touch. This is awesome work!

    Not to mention that your photography is great too. Lots of clarity, perspective, and focus. Keep it up! :)

  2. chi says:

    ahhh-mazing…. I want one like that now… (in my future mansion of course ;)

  3. Jen says:

    Done! We’ll build it right after the Moroccan Cabana :)

  4. Rick Gonzalez says:

    I am constantly amazed and inspired by you and your work. Outstanding. xoxo

  5. Lauren says:

    Jen… this is amazing… it is the most beautiful bar ever!! OMG you definitely will have to make cabinets, and dinner tables and offices from now on!! Would love to have something like this as a tackroom at the barn! You ROCK.

  6. Katherine says:

    jen, i love EVERYTHING about this! how long did it take?

  7. Jen says:

    Thanks Rique and Lauren! LaPlanta, it took about 2 weeks. It was a beast.

  8. Cecilia Yu says:

    Congrat to two DIY vampires, a very original and creative job!
    Can hardly believe you can turn something from Craiglist to piece of art. Thanks to the detailed before-during-after photos, I think my creative sense has improved by one point.

  9. Luna says:

    Amazing! Is it open to the Public? Haha. Well done on the results.

  10. Britt says:

    this bar is amazing! wonderful work! I’m right in USQ too so maybe someday I’ll get to see it in person

  11. andrea says:

    Beautiful bar. Would you let me know how the countertop is made?

  12. andrea says:

    Beautiful.What is the countertop made of? Is it the same reclaimed wood with a darker stain?

  13. Jen says:

    The countertops are made of solid boards from Lowes very similar to the one in this picture
    http://manhattan-nest.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/aspenpanel.jpg

    The stain is Minwax Mission Oak.

  14. Venetia says:

    Absolutely amazing!!! I’m surely going to try and make this on a smaller scale. i know its 30 feet long but what is the depth and height you used. i see the back has deeper shelves which i like a lot. Thanks!

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