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Most of us have what we need to mix a drink at home and a place at home to enjoy it. The kitchen bar, a favorite chair, or on the deck all make great places to enjoy a cocktail. A home bar elevates the ritual of mixing and enjoying a drink. Today, we’re sharing our favorite starting furnishings to make your ideas for a bar at home a reality.
If you’re going to have a room designated as a bar in your house, it needs to have a bar! This is going to serve as the central spot in the room, even if it’s not in the center of the room. Your choice of bar sets the tone.
For a classic feel, you can’t go wrong with a richly-colored wood bar. These hues are great for darkly-painted bars or those with hues of crimson, forest green or navy blue walls and upholstery. Black also goes beautifully with crimson, a common main-color choice for in-home bars.
If your home bar gets a lot of sunlight and is used during the day, you can have fun going with a light-colored bar. Think of moving from basement lounge to beach house recreation room while keeping a luxury feel.
Want more kitsch than the typical at-home refuge? What about an indoor tiki bar to keep things light and fun?
You’re going to need bar stools, of course. One of the first considerations is whether you want stools with a back, backless stools or a mix of both. While backless stools keep a clean aesthetic, if kids are going to be sitting at the bar ever, options with a back are safer.
Please don’t forget the foot rail! It may not pop into your head when planning your ultimate home bar but you’ll end up wishing you’d gotten one if you skip it. Not only does it make sitting at the bar more comfortable, but it adds a polished, professional look.
If your in-home bar is going to serve as a place for gathering over games, conversation or sports, be sure to have other seating options than just a bar!
Gaming tables are a perfect option. Consider adding one or two in a matching finish.
There’s not any rule about selecting the size of a bar based on room size. That said, there are some measurements to keep in mind when considering home bar ideas. We recommend thinking about how much seating you want and keeping the following in mind.
There should be at least three feet between the wall and the bar. This leaves room for one person getting behind the bar and mixing drinks and for carrying glassware, bottles for stocking, cleaning supplies and anything else you need to move in and out of the bar area. If you plan on larger parties or more use, give yourself a few more inches between the wall and the bar so that you can have help slinging those drinks.
Think about seating as two feet per stool.How many people do you want to sit at your bar? Pick the length based on the idea that you’ll want to save two feet per person, so a six-foot bar will accommodate three, seated guests. There’s other seating options you can–and should!–have in your bar so don’t be alarmed by this seating recommendation.
Putting a bar and some stools in a room doesn’t make a bar. The next step is outfitting that in-home bar with the appropriate accessories.
When coming up with bar ideas, people often forget a critical piece: storage! We love a statement piece that fits into a corner. Another option is a sturdy, rotating storage cabinet. Keep fresh linens, spare bottles, glassware, cocktail napkins, plates and more in these so that you’re not always running back and forth out of your bar. Extra storage also encourages having separate flat, silver and glassware for your bar versus grabbing whatever’s clean in the kitchen. Storage also keeps your bartop clutter free, which is vital to the aesthetic!
Chances are you’re not just making cocktails, so a kegerator and wine fridge are a must! If you have the room for it, a three-tap kegerator is the way to go. This allows you to keep a variety of drinks on tap. That can be a standard light beer, a trendy option like a sour or IPA and a dark option like stout or porter. Or keep it interesting with beer, cider and kombucha! Three taps is the perfect option for the ideal home bar.
A dual-zone wine fridge allows you to keep all wines ready-to-serve without the need for extra chilling or allowing things to warm up.
Stay tuned for a post in the near future about the perfect accessories and decor to add once you have your home bar started.
