O I like it. You don't need the drawer but I bet you'd find a use for it if you did.

You don't absolutely need a backsplash but you might want a really low curvy one out of the countertop material (see Segbrown's butler pantry for inspiration) or even wood. Heck--it's a bar! Mirror!! =) You certainly don't want anything high. I think you might want SOMEthing there because it's traditional.

it'll be beautiful there.

good place for artwork!

I actually prefer the drawer above the cabinet.

No water involved so no real need for a backsplash. Maybe a small row of framed photos or pictures?

I also like fori's idea of an interestingly shaped slab of something, even glossed up wood in an interesting bow shape would be nice.

Thank you.. So you think I SHOULD keep the drawer? I want the cabs for shelving for stem/glassware and I felt like if I removed the drawer it woud give me more space.. Brickton, could you explain what you mean by a bow shape? I am a visual person so having a hard time picturing what that is..
Thanks for your help! I am so excited b/c our cabinet maker said he could start and most likely finish it in one week (next week) and the granite fabricator said it could most likely take 2 days.. We are having a housewarming party the 20th so I am hoping it will be before then, but chances are slim... Thanks again!

Check out the butler pantry backsplash in this lovely kitchen.

I don't know if symmetry is required here with the wine shelves being so very different from a cabinet but the drawer/door combo could be a false front if you think symmetry is needed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Segbrown's kitchen

Oh I like that! I am thinking of either putting that clock I mentioned above or some sort of "wine" related artwork-maybe something with cork.. Just a thought! Thanks for showing me Segbrowns kitchen. I have seen her kitchen before but did not notice the detail in the butler's pantry. I love it!

Instead of posting a new thread I figured I would pose this question here with the hopes someone would answer..

What would you put in these shelves? The bottow row has my cookbooks in it and below it is a corkboard and my desk. I am having a hard time finding stuff to fill it with that :"matches" the kitchen. Any suggestions?

{{!gwi}}

for those shelves...
Do you have china and if so, is there a large bowl or casserole?

Potted plants with hanging tendrils?

A personal mania, such as a collection of objects?

A wedding gift you have never had a place to display?

Kid art? Photo of Grandma?

A silver tea/coffee set? (requires occasional polishing)

a fabulous piece or two of colored glass?

Seasonal display?

A plate or small framed painting in colors you like, standing upright on a stand-up stand?

More cookbooks, other books?

A clear glass container filled with something stunningly simple, such as colored marbles or pebbles?

So I was thinking of old furniture that I grew up around that had interested wooden backsplashes on dressers. It's actually very similar to the marble in segbrown's rockin' butler pantry. Something like this:
{{!gwi}}

As for what you want to put on top or above it on the wall, you mentioned cork and I wanted to pass along two fun ideas from YoungHouseLove (click for the page):
{{!gwi}}
and
{{!gwi}}

brickton, that was definitely the inspiration for the marble backsplash, the old furniture like that. What is that part called? It's not the apron, that would be at bottom, right?

If you don't have a drawer, where will you keep the corkscrew? Coasters? Bottle opener? Napkins? Swizzle sticks? It can be very handy!

segbrown, well if that's what you were going for, consider it a rousing success. It's interesting, functional, and really just great in that space and of course the fact that it's gorgeous marble doesn't hurt.

I think it's still called a backsplash, though there may be a more technically correct term.

And I just wanted to answer back the OP in that yes, I was definitely on the side of keeping the drawer, one above the cabinet, one above the wine rack for symmetry.

And if I had to fill those shelves, I would go with books. The cabinetry is very 'old library' to me (in a very good way) and I would play that up by doing books to the ceiling. Stacking some on their side, some more loosely packed. But then again, I like books.

I have a (selfishly motivated) off-topic question for you! What are the dimensions of your beautiful kitchen? It looks relatively narrow, as mine is, and I have a hard time picturing plans I've had drawn up in a real-life setting? It would be very helpful to me to know. Thank you! PS- I like the ide of the clock because it is a little less literal than a wine-themed picture of the bar, and wall clocks are beautiful and practical. Gorgeous kitchen choices, BTW.

Thanks for all the suggestions.. I love the candle with the corks.. So different but so easy.. Books are always good.. I have a really hard time "showcasing" stuff (I have my MIL's glass hutch in my DR which I can't stand b/c it is glass and I don't like showcasing). So books might be a good solution!

Debbie-
The kitchen specs are 15x13 and then the eating area is 11x15. I don't feel like it would be narrow if we didn't put an island in it, a little less walkway than there probably should be but it works for us! Eventually I will have finished pictures up!!! and thanks for the kind words about the kitchen! It was so nice to see it come together b/c we built the house and it was so hard to piece everything without actually seeing the space. I am really happy with the way it turned out!

Arrrggghh. I have the world's narrowest kitchen- it's 11'2'wide. My original plan had a slide in range centered on the wall where your cooktop is and the fridge where your wall oven is, so I guess I could still approximate the look. You said you have plenty of cabinets in this layout. May I ask, do you also have a pantry? Thank you!

Unfortunately, I do not have a pantry. My mother kept trying l tell me to add a pantry (at least a pull out pantry) and I kept saying I didn't need one b/c of T of my cabinetry.. ALWAYS LISTEN TO MOM.. I wish i did have a pantry now b/c with all the cabinet space, i feel like there is little "good space" for food. My choice was a bar or a pantry. I am choosing the bar... Have you posted your layout? I am not good with this stuff but there are SOOO many resourceful GW'ers who can help you!!

GillyLily...in 5th grade, my children made plates for us thanking us for "being there for them" and then in 6th grade they had mugs made with a photograph of one of their pieces of artwork from Art Class. I put the plates & mugs in the top of one of my (soon-to-be) glass doored cabinets.

Other things to consider...teapot, decorative serving pieces, pretty glass or stemware, etc.

[Debbie1031...I have you beat...my kitchen is only 10'6" wide! (No, not wide enough for a functional island, but our kitchen is very functional and an island would just be something to run around when working...both my DH & I are grateful to the GWers here who convinced us our kitchen really wasn't wide enough for an island).]

I'm no wine expert, but won't the heat from the refrigerator harm the wine in that rack?

Gillylily and Buehl- No, unfortunately, I have not posted plans yet. We had multiple plans drawn up last Spring and then I found out we were expecting. Just had my little guy 3 weeks ago, so my mind has begun to return to the kitchen! I don't know how to get the plans in a post here from their spot in my e-mail! I was also paying close attention to the post about the small kitchen with lots of doorways, because I have the same kind of layout and, right down to the many doorways and Buehl's kitchen was so pretty in that response! I need a new sprinter or scanner and then I can maybe scan the pics in and attach them. Otherwise, I have no clue where to save them and pull them from! Suggestions?

I wouldn't do the open wine rack on the right. It is an inefficient use of space, and a bad way to store wine.

Thanks Sue- space is not an issue for me- just looking for someplace to store my wine. Why is it a bad way to store wine? Because it is open?

Debbie-
I don't know exactly how to do it from email.. I think (and don't quote me) if you join photobucket and create an account and then upload the images to photobucket ;you can post them that way. On each picture there is an HTML code that you cut and paste into a thread here on GW. go to the READ ME IF YOU ARE NEW thread.. It gives pretty good directions on how to do that.

Gillylily, wine is happiest when it is cool & not vibrated, so being next to a refrigerator is not good for it. Unless you are drinking the wine as fast as you are buying it, you either want somewhere else for your wine storage or install a wine chiller unit. Many beverage centers are designed for wine; some have been disappointed because the BC doesn't get cold enough for food or really cold beer chilling.

You could install a beverage center designed for wine and also refrigerator drawers to store everything else.

Consider having drawers instead of a cabinet, or at least a pullout at the bottom shelf of the cabinet.

How about some narrow shelving above your bar for glass storage? We went with upper cabinets for our beverage area, because it's harder to keep things dust free on open shelves.

Hmm. you learn something new... Ok. so what if I move the cabinet to the center and then the beverage cooler one side and wine rack on the other?

Can I just say that a bar beats a pantry any old day?

The closest thing I have to a pantry is full of booze.

I think separating the fridge from the wine would be just fine--and it'll solve your drawer symmetry problem too!

Lol.. that is EXACTLY how i feel which is why i chose the bar... and good point about the draw for symmetry. I don't want to add any cabinetry or shelving above the whole cabinet b/c I need artwork or something other than cabinets! I keep thinking about the clock that i saw a few days ago- hmmm.. if only the $$ tree would grow back.. too bad it is cold and snowy up here in MA :(.