Renovating a bar into a lingerie store be like…
You think you’re just swapping out some light fixtures and putting up new drywall. You are wrong. You are performing a full-blown spiritual exorcism, but with more spackle.
Day 1: The Walk-Through
You arrive with your Pinterest board full of soft lighting, velvet curtains, and delicate shades of blush and champagne. The architect is talking about “flow” and “customer experience.” You open the door, and the smell hits you like a physical wall. It’s the aroma of a thousand spilled beers, decades of fryer oil, and the unmistakable musk of “last call” regrets. The floor is so sticky your boot makes a schloop sound with every step. You realize your first budget item isn’t paint; it’s industrial-grade hazmat cleaning.
Week 1: Demolition & Discovery
This is the archaeology phase. Tearing out the actual bar is a nightmare. It’s bonded to the floor with a mysterious, tar-like substance that is probably 80% fossilized Jägermeister.
Behind the drywall where the dartboard used to hang, you find:
- Three petrified onion rings.
- A driver’s license that expired in 1997.
- An entire, unopened can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
- A truly shocking amount of glitter. (You decide to stop asking questions about this one.)
The plumbing under the old bar sink smells haunted. The walk-in cooler, which you dreamed would be the perfect, climate-controlled stockroom for delicate silks, has a mysterious stain on the back wall that you decide, for your own sanity, is just “rust.”
Week 3: The Vibe Shift
The contractors are deeply confused. The electrician, a gruff man named Gary, keeps asking, “You want more light in here? And you want it… soft?” He’s used to installing fixtures designed to survive a thrown bottle, not to flatter a silk chemise.
You’re planning the layout.
“Okay, so this corner, where the sticky pool table was? That’s where the Bridal Collection will go.”
“And the spot where the glowing ‘BUDWEISER’ sign burned its image into the wall? That will be our main mannequin display.”
“The fitting rooms? Oh, we’re putting those where the men’s bathroom used to be. You know, the one with the trough.”
Week 5: The Ghosts
The old regulars haven’t gotten the memo. Every day at 5:01 PM, an old man named ‘Sticks’ still cups his hands against the glass, peering past the “Coming Soon: Satin & Lace” sign, looking utterly baffled. He just wants to know if happy hour is still on. You almost feel bad.
Week 8: The Final Polish
The plush carpet is finally down, covering the floor you scrubbed, sanded, and sealed three times (but you know the stickiness is still there, deep down, waiting). The walls are a beautiful pearl white. The air smells like lavender and vanilla. Delicate, crystal-drop fixtures hang where the ceiling fans used to slowly wobble.
It’s beautiful. It’s elegant. It’s serene.
But you know the truth. You know that beneath the soft carpet and sandalwood scent, the ghost of a Bon Jovi song is still echoing off the walls. You’ve built a temple of femininity… on top of a party graveyard.
And you never did figure out the glitter.
#renovation #bar #transformation #remodel #businessflip #beforeandafter #interiordesign
