Creating a Home Bar That Suits Your Entertaining Style

For people who love to entertain, a well-stocked, convenient home bar is as essential as a well-equipped chef’s kitchen. It’s the ultimate at-home hangout spot, a place to entertain friends in a casual space that encourages conversation and social interaction even when the host plays barkeep.

While many upscale homes come with bar spaces already in place, designing the ideal wet bar and/or taproom in a home built without one can take considerable time and thought. Still, say creative architects and designers, whether your ideal home bar would take up the length of a room, be part of a home theater, or open out of a converted closet, there are a variety of ways to make the end result just what you want it to be.

As with any home renovation project, the more bells and whistles you want, the more professionals will be involved. Besides the architect or interior designer, you’ll need a contractor to build it. A carpenter may be needed to build custom cabinetry and shelving, a plumber to install a sink and ice maker, and an electrician to add outlets for a refrigerator and other appliances. You may need a tile setter to install a backsplash for your sink, and a painter to provide the finishing touches after all the hammering is done—and if you are moving walls or adding plumbing, or electricity where none existed, you will need a city permit.

If space is problematic, a single wall home bar can be designed to fit into a small space using the corner of a room, an alcove or even a closet, designers say—and design elements will take into account the amount and type of glassware you will need to store.

Designers may suggest that wherever you decide to construct your home bar, it should reflect your personal style, say the professionals at Homesthetics.net. You can choose a theme based on your interests—dramatic black and silver, for example, for a movie buff, or an inset bar area with café seating for an intimate bistro wine bar effect that blends into your living room.

Clearly, the cost will be commensurate with the size and scope of the project, and choosing a designer requires the same care you would take with any home renovation. But it should start with your well-defined vision of the bar you want to create.