Home Bar Ideas and Designs
How big should my home bar be?
The ideal style of your home bar will depend on your lifestyle and entertaining habits as well as the amount of available space. If big groups come round regularly then you should consider dedicating a part of your living room or basement to a larger seating area – complete with a bar table, bar stools and wet bar section – to keep everyone suitably comfortable and merry. If TV is essential, check if there is a wall nearby that’s a big enough to mount it on without restricting anyone’s view. A key feature of home bar ideas is the storage – gleaming wine racks and low-lit glass shelves. Make sure you can afford these little delights after you have built the basic structure. Alternatively, if space is limited, a freestanding home cocktail bar would give you somewhere to prepare cocktails that is out of the way – in the corner of your dining room or under the stairwell for instance. Also, mirrored surfaces can help to create the illusion of space. Sketch the layout of the room in which you would like to place the bar and think about where all those bottles, cans and snacks are going to go. Then speak to either a home bar specialist about your home bar ideas, or to a joiner about adapting a vintage bookcase or creating something bespoke.
What style of home bar should I choose?
Try to play off the interior decor of the surrounding area. A kitsch Manhattan-inspired home cocktail bar will look out of place in a country cottage, for example. Similarly, a long white walnut home bar would jar against a bright red contemporary kitchen. That said, contrast might be something that you accentuate, not least through the choice of flooring, which would help to make your home bar stand out. Collect home bar ideas in an Ideabook, settle upon a theme and then discuss the design with your home bar specialist or joiner. Lighting sets the mood in bars, particularly late at night, so pay special attention to placement, intensity and how you want your guests to feel. Dim underbar lighting creates a warm, intimate atmosphere, while spotlights brighten and energise.
Which home bar accessories and facilities should I include?
This really does depend on how far you are willing to go. A home bar can replicate almost everything you see in your local, from running water and refrigerated wine cabinets to draught beer pumps and bespoke lighting and a sound systems. Again, the most important thing is to work with what’s there – available space and home decor. Is that black lizard effect leather flooring really going to go? How about the turquoise splashback? Do those flowers look out of place or will they help to soften up what’s fast becoming a man cave? There are several ways to make a home bar more visually interesting without spending big on fixtures and fittings. Select furniture that’s comfortable but also sparks interest, such as salvaged chairs or a second-hand leather sofa. Add a touch of glitz and glamour through your choice of glassware, drinks trolley, ice bucket, shaker and spirit bottles if you want the home cocktail bar look. Then scatter a few curios around the bar – ornaments, lamps, artwork, photos and travel mementos are great home bar ideas to get the conversation started.
Contemporary single-wall breakfast bar in Surrey with open cabinets, glass worktops and mirror splashback.
Our downstairs hallway (Create Andrew's Bar) - louiserennie
Photo of a contemporary u-shaped breakfast bar in London with flat-panel cabinets, wood worktops, medium hardwood flooring and brown worktops.
Woodwork finishing and bar stools - bylewisco
Photo of an urban galley home bar in London with white splashback, metro tiled splashback, concrete flooring and grey floors.
like the wood in the bar but nothing else - mohamed_sadek97
The furniture in this stunning wine wall is enhanced with the subtle lighting.
Inspiration for a contemporary home bar in London with light hardwood flooring.
built in wine shelf and extra cabinets - leo_betthauser
Traditional breakfast bar in Other with blue cabinets, wood worktops and brown worktops.
Love the colours and the Bustier (Winston Churchill) - louiserennie
Will Pryce
Design ideas for a contemporary home bar in London.
staged drinks a good idea so can view all bottle - olwyn_godden
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This apartment is designed by Black and Milk Interior Design. They specialise in Modern Interiors for Modern London Homes. https://blackandmilk.co.uk
Floor to ceiling shelves eats into floor space so start them higher- here above paneling. - augusta_j_mcdermott
Inspiration for a contemporary galley wet bar in Oxfordshire with a submerged sink, flat-panel cabinets, beige splashback, medium hardwood flooring and beige floors.
Keep it sleekThere’s nothing fussy or overdone about this banister. The slim black metal balustrades and handrail look elegant and understated, and create a lovely feature in the room. The sharp monochrome form created by the banister is replicated in the square shapes in the kitchen below, but the soft shades in the cookspace contrast with the black and white above to zone the area. - asimmondsuk
Expansive contemporary home bar in Hertfordshire with dark hardwood flooring.
Cinema doubling as bar? - webuser_194205265
Darren Chung Photography Ltd
Design ideas for a small contemporary single-wall home bar in Berkshire with no sink, flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, mirror splashback, beige floors and white worktops.
I like these pocket of sliding doors where some of your kitchen is hidden - webuser_318142262
Design ideas for a home bar in London.
the entirely same wall for behind the dining table - arooj_fatima83
A jaunty 1950's cocktail bar sits beneath the ceiling canopy detail, and adjacent to some antique mirrored Crittall windows.
Photographer: Rachael Smith
Image No 70931798 - Stephen Fletcher Architects - karen4049
Jon Bradley
Inspiration for a country home bar in Other.
colour idea and drink cabinet idea - ross2578
Design ideas for a large classic single-wall home bar in Hertfordshire with beaded cabinets, grey cabinets, quartz worktops, grey splashback, ceramic flooring, grey floors and mirror splashback.
We need this bar in our living room - isabella_allen83
Adam Carter
Inspiration for a rural home bar in Gloucestershire.
Glass display cabinet - phelps100
Design ideas for a farmhouse breakfast bar in West Midlands with medium hardwood flooring and brown floors.
Snooker table - lee_mcmurray
Eleanor Baines Photography
Photo of a contemporary home bar in Surrey with multi-coloured floors.
Just bought one of these on Ebay. Going to replace the formica with a funk patterned wrapping paper and cover it with toughened glass. - georgina_o_neil
Re-used copper pipes form new kitchen apothecary style shelves.
Inspiration for a contemporary home bar in London.