How we renovated our 1920's barn and added a food / buffet room for weddings & Events.
Back in 2020, we decided to renovate our old barn and turn it into a beautiful spot for our daughter's wedding. We added a lower level lounge area, bar, several windows and doors, and an upper level dance hall. You can read more about how we fixed up our old barn here!
Where to Put the Food Room
So Pike Lake Farms Wedding & Event Barn had a place for people to lounge, a bar, dance floor, and the dining area was being built, but there was just one thing lacking, a place for the food! We didn't want to take up space in the lounge area, dining or use the upper level, so we decided to add a food / buffet room or this room could also serve as a spot for caterers to use. There was already two doors leading into the "old" part of the barn. The "old" part was unfinished with cattle head locks, whitewashed walls that needed painting and broken glass windows. We were originally going to use this space to put the bathrooms in or had contemplated adding a bridal suite here, but it just made sense to add a space for the food. It already had an entrance and an exit which would be perfect to keep the flow of traffic going in the right direction. Guests could go in one door, get their plates and food and then exit through the other to head out to the dining room.
Below is a picture of the room before we started. It definitely needed a lot of work! We started by added extra supports to the room and added the walls. We also added some insulation and electrical lines.
The Old Bowling Alley Table
We wanted a long, solid wood table that stretched across the room plus also could be installed over the footings for the old cattle headlocks. Originally we were going to break up the concrete but decided that would be a big job that we just didn't want to tackle! Instead we were on a mission to find a long, solid piece of wood that could be installed over top of the headlocks. That's when we starting shopping on Facebook Marketplace to see what we could find! There was a bowling alley in a nearby town that they were tearing down and selling all the old lanes. The lanes would be perfect for a table!
The lanes were made out of maple and pine and were HEAVY! It took a couple of guys to haul it out, but we knew once we sanded and cleaned it up it would be perfect! Once it was sanded and all the nails removed, we supported it using some old 6" wooden posts to that we had laying around the farm.
Table is in Place, Now What?
Once we got the table in place, it was time to start working on the walls. We decided to go with primed exterior wood panel siding and lay it vertically. The panelling was relatively inexpensive compared to other options. We also wanted something that could withstand the fluctuating temperatures and humidity in the barn.
The Ceiling
For the ceiling we could not decide what to do. We knew it had to withstand the moisture and varying temperatures in the barn, we also did not want to have to pay a fortune for it. We found some old tin at Beam and Board Reclaimed Lumber in Howard, WI. The store had all kinds of reclaimed wood, tin and we got so many great ideas from our visit! We ended up not buying enough tin, so found some closer to home from Shawn Bighorn from Birnamwood, WI. He sells a variety of tin and recycled barn wood. He and his wife also gave us a lot of great ideas for our barn!
The Ceiling is Done, Now onto Painting
Once the ceiling was done it was time to start painting the walls. We chose to go with Magnolia Homes Bighorn White. We had used this color in the bridal suite and it is the perfect shade of warm white. With the walls painted, the ceiling really stood out and the room was finally coming along. We also stained and put poly on the bowling alley table. For the lighting, we went with galvenized metal buckets to give it a farm house flair. We were going to buy the lights but priced at over $150 a piece we decided to make our own. We bought some galvenized tin buckets from our local hardware store and a lighting kit from Amazon. We drilled a hole in the bottom of the buckets and attached the lighting. They were super easy to make and cost less than $20 per light!
Time for the Trim and Floors
For the trim we bought pine 1x3's and stained them to match the wood beam and then hung them along the perimeters of the ceiling. Then it was time for the floors. The old concrete was in pretty rough shape. We ended up having to rent a jackhammer to break up a few sections of the floor and then repour those areas. We did not want to have to break up all the floor, so used concrete floor leverer on the other areas. Once the flooring set, it looked so much better but still looked rough and the colors were uneven. So we painted the concrete with industrial grade cement paint. We used a light gray color and love how it turned out!
The Finishing Touches
We finally got to the best part, adding the finishing touches to the room! We picked out some fabric from Hobby Lobby to make curtains to go in the areas under the bowling alley table. Plus the curtains would also hide the existing headlocks. We went with a neutral gray plaid that had a farm feel to it. We wanted it to blend well with different wedding styles so we went pretty neutral with it.
Food line Room is Finished!
We love how it turned out! It has a rustic farmhouse feel but still looks elegant and modern. My mom gave us her 200 year old hutch to add to the room! I love this hutch and really think that it gives the room a homey, farm kitchen feel to it! We still need to hang the shelving and we want to take some pictures to add to the wall, but other than that it is finished. We can't wait to see this room in action at Pike Lake Farms Wedding and Event Barn!
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