The Art of Building a Murphy Bar: A DIY Guide

A Murphy bar is a unique and functional liquor cabinet that mounts on an exterior wall, featuring a drop-down door with a sturdy work surface perfect for mixing drinks and slicing limes. Made from naturally rot-resistant Cedar, it's safe for food handling, making it an ideal addition to any outdoor entertaining space. In this article, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of building a Murphy bar, using clear Cedar as our primary material.

To start, create a cut list to line up your materials and gather all necessary tools and supplies. Use a miter saw to cross-cut all pieces except for the door slats, and cut four L-shaped blocks from scrap to help clamp the box together. Lay out the pieces of the box, glue the bottom piece to the side pieces, and use clamping boxes to hold the corners in place while squaring them off. Once the corners are squared, glue and clamp the center divider in place, using a square to get it straight. Then, drill pilot holes with a countersink bit and screw the pieces together.

To create the overhang for the top, prop the entire assembly up on blocks and use corner blocks again to glue and clamp the top piece in place. Counter-sink pilot holes and screw it down, making sure everything is secure and level. Measure and mark the location for the shelf cleats halfway up the right-hand compartment, glue them in place, and then install the shelf. Now it's time to build the roof, using a bevel gauge to mark 12° angles at the corners of the Gable ends. Gang the two pieces together and clamp them down, then cut both pieces at the same time to create identical roof sections.

Hang onto the sections you cut off for now, as you'll need them later. Mark 12° angles on the edges of the roof boards where they meet at the peak, loosen the shoe of your circular saw, and match it to that angle before tightening it back up. Make bevel cross-cuts once you're done with both pieces, checking to see that the roof pieces fit together with the Gable ends.

Install the roof by standing the box upright and gluing the bottom edge of one Gable end, using the cut-off section to clamp it in place. Drill pilot holes from inside the box with your countersink bit, then screw the piece in place. Install the other Gable end just the same way, then for the roof pieces, glue them down and use a brad nailer to attach them in place.

Now that the roof is installed, lay the box face down and start arranging slats using spacers like large paint stirrers to set the gap between them. Since screws would be overkill here, simply tack these slats in place, except for the top one, which doubles as a French cleat to mount the bar on the wall. Make a 45° mark on the end of the board through its center line, transfer that line to the face of the board, and screw it down to your work surface.

Set your blade to 45° and rip the board along its entire length, resulting in two halves with matching bevels. One will go on the wall, while the other will install as the top slot, beveled down and facing into the box. Counter-sink pilot holes and secure it with screws, ensuring everything is level and square.

Next up is the door frame, made from 5/4" boards for added strength. Start by clamping the styles on the edge of the table, then Chuck a 3/4" straight bit in your router and set the fence to keep the cut at that width. Make several passes until the rabbit is through 3/8" deep, then drill holes for dowels using a ding jig flushed with the outside edge.

Make pairs of holes on the inside edges of the Rails at each end, then assemble the door by applying glue to one end of the dowels and inserting them into the rails. Fit the styles and glue them into place, ensuring everything is secure and level. Measure and mark the location for the bar, using shims to bring the face of the cleat flat against the siding.

Use 3-in deck screws to hold the cleat in place, then slide the bar onto it. This clever design allows you to easily remove the bar at the end of the season to store it if needed. With its sturdy construction and convenient design, a Murphy bar is an excellent addition to any outdoor entertaining space – perfect for serving up delicious drinks and making memories with friends and family.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi and welcome to This Old House you may be asking yourself what's a Murphy bar well it's a liquor cabinet that mounts on an exterior wall with a drop- down door that makes for a neat and sturdy work surface perfect for mixing drinks and slicing limes and it's made of naturally rot resistant Cedar so it just so happens to be safe for food handling as well we used what's known as clear Cedar on this project but you could save a few bucks by swapping in naughty seeder if you like check out the cut list on this web page to line up your materials to start building use a miter saw to cross cut all the pieces except for the door slats while you're at it cut four L-shaped blocks from scrap to help you clamp the box together now lay out the pieces of the Box glue the bottom piece to the side pieces and use the clamping box to hold the corners Square next glue and clamp the center divider in place here you can use a square to get it straight then you want to drill pilot holes with a count counter sink bit and screw the pieces together now prop the entire assembly up on one by blocks to create the overhang for the top it's a little wider than the sides use your corner blocks here again and glue and clamp the top piece in place then you just want to counter sync pilot holes and screw it down next measure and mark the location for the Shelf cleats halfway up the right hand compartment glue the cleats tack them in place and then install the Shelf time to build the roof use a bevel gauge to Mark 12° angles at the corners of the Gable ends gang the two pieces together and clamp them down now cut both pieces at the same time and you end up with two identical pieces hang on to the sections you cut off for now next you want to Mark 12° angles on the edges of the roof boards where they meet at the peak loosen the shoe of the circular saw match the blade to that angle and then tighten it back up now make the bevel cross Cuts once you're done with both pieces check to see that the roof pieces fit together with the Gable ends to install the roof stand the Box upright glue the bottom edge of one Gable end and use the cut off section to clamp it in place drill pilot holes from inside the box with your counter syn bit then screw the piece in place install the other Gable end just the same way then for the roof pieces glue them down and use a brad nailer to attack them in place now you can install the back lay the Box face down then start from the bottom arranging slats use spacer something like large paint stirs to set the gap between slats screws would be Overkill here so just tack these slats in place all except for the top one that's because the top slot doubles as the French cleat to mount the Box on the wall to make the cleat Mark a 45 on the end of the board right through the center line transfer that line to the face of the board then screw the board down to your work surface set your blade to 45° and rip the board along its entire length what you end up with is two halves with matching bevels one will go on the wall install the other one as the top slot beveled down and facing into the box counter sync pilot holes and secure it with screws next up is the door frame it's made of 5 qu boards to give you a little more strength than plain old 1x4s the first step is to clamp the styles on the edge of the table Chuck a 3/4 in straight bit in your router and set the fence to keep the cut at that width start shallow and make several passes until the rabbit is through 38 of an inch deep now the frame is held together with dowels to drill holes for them clamp a ding jig to the style flushed with the outside edge and make a pair of holes 3/4 of an inch deep at each end of each style use the jig to make a complimentary pair of holes on the inside edges of the Rails at each end to assemble the door apply glue to one end of the Dows and insert them into the rails then glue the Styles and fit them into place use bar clamps to hold the frame together and then check it for square square with the frame built you can measure it and cut the slats to fit once they're cut to length clamp all four of them together and Route both ends so that they fit into the door frame to finish the door lay the slats into the frame using spacers to keep the gaps even counter sync two pilot holes at each end of each slat and use brass screws to secure them the next step is to install the hinges screw them in place and then install rings for the chain but before you cut the chain to length use a raptor Square to make sure that length will hold the door flat now to mount the bar level the French cleat on the wall and drive a screw into each end use shims to bring the face of the cleat Plum and also to keep it from trapping moisture against the siding then just use 3-in deck screws to hold the cleat in place now for the Slick part simply Slide the bar onto the cleat and you're done nice thing about this is you can easily remove it at the end of the season to store it if you like but the first order of business is to decide what to serve at your first patio party\n"