As some of you know, I have a very large ‘Chicken Coop’ that has been converted into my shop, studio and Man Cave. The building itself is about 3.5K square feet.

In my Man Cave there is a three sided ‘U’ shaped display case unit. The two sides are glass topped with display areas under the glass for smaller items and the end is open fronted with a wood countertop and lighting under the countertop to illuminate the objects below.

I’ve never liked the countertop. It was just quickly finished years ago by throwing a coat of stain on the plywood surface – not even a coat of poly. My fault, and I’ve been planning on addressing the problem literally for years.

Last fall, I stripped some 100+ year old barn wood from a barn that was falling down. I also picked up a couple of barn beams.
I decided it was time to do something about the countertop.

Here is a shot of the area after I stripped off the face trim, and trimmed back the plywood flush with the support structure.

So I took the longest barn beam I had and cut a square notch into one corner . . .

. . . and mounted it to the front of the counter.

Then I trimmed off the ends and added 45-degree cuts on the ends to eliminate the sharp corners and framed up the left, right and back sides with other 100 year old barn wood to enclose the center area.

I then lightly sanded everything to eliminate any chance of splinters. But I left as much of the saw mill cut marks as possible to preserve the character. Here’s a shot of the backside after framing and before final staining and poly.

After stain and poly . . .

Then I added stacked stone to the back wall . . . and ceramic tile that looks like barn wood on the bottom.

I then had a contractor come in and pour a cement countertop in the recess.

Here is the finished project showcasing Jodi’s Ice Cream globes.

Nice job! You did one heck of a job, it looks great. Hope you don't have to move it.

That looks fantastic! Nice re-use of the old barn beam.

That is sweet!!

Looks great Jim!

Very unique and well done.

Pretty classy chicken house there!!!

I really like this . A lot better than some commercial looking display.Cant beat the rustic barnwood look. Warm and inviting.
A Job well done.

Looks awesome Jim!!

What SavinSam said! I used to work in a poultry farm and I've never seen one look that good!

What a nice bar! Now you gotta serve your lager in glasses with mini's of your most popular pump decals on them...

Looks good Jim. I especially like the use of the concrete.It seems like the concrete tops are really catching on.

Since these photos were taken, I've 'aged' the concrete.

I put some steel items on it and kept them moist to create rust spots, added some 'overspray' from a painting project, oil drops and some other wear-n-tear.

I wanted it to look like it was cut out of someone's shop floor.

Later . . .

Jim

Looks awesome!

Looks awesome!!

Very nice. I would have a cold one there.

Looks great!

I was fortunate enough to see this in person and it looks awesome. Jim has a great looking man cave that any chicken would be proud to call home.

Looks great, like the stone and wood combo.

Looks good Jim!

Not only are you the master globe artist but one heck of a carpenter also. Very nice Jim.
Tom.

Wow great job and amazing space to display your collection!!

looks great!

you must not have a dog... otherwise you would need some plexiglass in front, those globes are right at tail wagging height!

Looks fantastic.

_______________
Kurt

We have an English Bulldog - no tail to speak of! LOL

And he's hardly ever out there, and could care less about the globes as long as he's getting a belly rub!

Jim

How is that big ol dope doing anyways? Last I talked to you he was not doing very well. Display looks great!

Actually Ryan, Winston died about 3.5 months ago. I miss him terribly.

But here's our new Bulldog: Quincy.

We will get him the week of Valentine's Day.

Ain't he cute? LOL

Later . . .

Jim

I am sorry Jim. I have lost 2 bullies now, it sucks. Congrats on the new puppy! Rub his belly for me!

Sorry to hear about Winston. The passing of a well-loved dog is tough to handle.

Your project looks great. Makes quite a statement in that room.

Now a little puppy might climb in there with the globes, so I'm sure you got some baby proofing to do.
Sweet Valentines gift there...