How to Create a Home Bar
Grand One Lounge home bar.
What to Do and Where to Start
Creating a home bar is fun.
Whether you like to entertain, or you just want to carve out a little space in your home for yourself, creating a home bar can be a great project and design experience.
What Type of Home Bar is Best?
One of the first things to consider is what kind of home bar you envision?
A home bar can be anything from a portable bar cart that helps to organize your spirits and other bar essentials; to a pre-fabricated or built-it-yourself modular bar kit; to a full-fledged custom-built permanent bar setup, complete with sink, bar fridge and more.
Determining which of these options is right for you is a good first step.
Things to consider here are where you plan to put the bar and how much space you have. Budget is another factor, as the permanent solution can require electrical and plumbing considerations in addition to the build of the bar itself.
For the pre-fab bar and built-in bar, you'll also need to consider bar furniture. Do you want bar stools at your bar? If so, what kind and what style? What about any special lighting or bar appliances, such as a wine fridge?
Consider the Possibilities for Your Home Bar
It's a good idea to consider as much of this as possible before you go out and buy anything. This way you can plan for the setup (where will that wine fridge go?) and things like electrical outlets, bottle storage, a work area to mix cocktails and pour drinks, and so on. I would even recommend standing in the space and pretend you're actively preparing a cocktail or serving a drink. Go through the motions of what you would do and what you would need. That can quickly help to identify things you may not have considered before.
Even for the simplest solution of an elegant bar cart, there are quite a few different styles on the market. You'll want to consider not only the type, size and style that you want, but also where you will store the bar cart. Will it be in view at all times or will it be tucked away out of sight? Do you plan to roll it out when serving guests, or is it likely that it will never move?
In our home, we have the Grand One Lounge in the basement, which is a full fledged bar set-up. But was also have a bar cart and wine fridge on the main floor. The bar cart is stationary and the wine fridge is located next to it. So there are many ways to create a home bar and many things to consider.
At the beginning it's fun to let your imagination run wild. Don't box yourself in. Maybe your design means changing what's happening in an existing space of your home (this is the approach I took with the Grand One Lounge).
It often comes down to the following considerations:
What you want to do
What you have space to do
What you can afford to do
Somewhere among these three considerations is the right balance for you. And remember, you don't have to do it all at once. Again, this is how the Grand One Lounge evolved. It was developed in phases until it finally became what it is today.
Home Bar Cart.
Dreaming and Conceptualizing Your Home Bar is Part of the Process
So have fun conceptualizing and creating your home bar, no matter how big or small. And remember, a home bar can have uses beyond its core purpose. For example, the Grand One Lounge bartop and pub tables provide a good amount of extra seating for meals when we have large gatherings or host things like Thanksgiving dinner. So don't forget to consider the additional benefits (Note: this point can come in handy if you're trying to persuade a significant other of the need for a home bar).
Once you have created your home bar, the next thing to consider is how to setup your home bar.
By Mike Belobradic
Wine, Spirits and Beer Virtuoso
Grand One Lounge