HBar, Author at The Ultimate Home Bar

How to Decorate Your Home Bar in a Unique Way

A tastefully decorated home bar will impress your guests and make your house more appealing. These beautiful pieces of furniture are designed for entertainment and relaxation. They should be fun, warm, and inviting. Choosing the right accessories doesn’t have to be difficult. Keeping your theme in mind, there are options you can consider for decorating your bar. Its colors should match the dominant color from the rest of the room. Here are a few tips on how to decorate your home bar so that it looks amazing:

Make It a Focal Point

Whether you have a large home bar or a small cocktail bar, adding a bit of decor can enhance its visual appeal. Most people confound the bar itself with the place where the drinks. Nothing could be further from the truth. A home bar is a stylish piece of furniture featuring a counter, horizontal support for the glasses in the upper part, storage space for drinks, and matching stools. The bottles and glasses should have their own space directly into the wall. Instead of cluttering your bar with drinks and kitchen gadgets, make it a focal point. Add fancy decorations that match its overall design. Install hanging shelves and apply decals.

Use Tasteful Decorations

Tasteful decorations and accessories can turn your home bar into a oasis of relaxation. You can use mirrors and wall clocks, as well as metal draught beer dispensers, flags of various countries and sports teams, coins, caps, and even currency bills. Strategically placed mirrors will make your bar look bigger.

A tiki bar could be decorated with totem poles and palm leaves. For a sports bar, use trophies and decorative plaques, NASCAR themed accessories, and memorabilia. Those who have a disco themed home bar can use neon signs, lava lamps, and bright lights. When choosing your favorite home bar decorations, keep the theme in mind.

Be Creative

Have you ever considered using mini dishwashers and blenders to decorate your home bar? If you have a few appliances that look like new and match your bar design, you can use them. Think about your hobbies and decorate your bar accordingly. Like to gamble? Decorate your home bar with old poker chips, decks of playing cards, and western themed wallpapers. If you enjoy hunting, add a few shelves to display your trophies. For a country style bar, use themed decorations such as a horseshoe, an old battered coffee pot, cowboy hats, and mugs shaped like cowboy boots.

Essential Spirits That Any Home Bar Should Have

Spirits, Stocking your home bar

Any home bar should have at least twelve spirits. Commercial bars have, on average, around 40 bottles. Many homeowners would like to prepare classic and contemporary cocktails alike, but don’t have enough space or money for buying the ingredients required. The good news is that you can create dozens of cocktails by using only a few basic drinks like vodka, gin, rum, and whiskey.

Here five essential spirits that any home bar should have:

Vodka

Vodka is the main ingredient in over 37 cocktails, including Cosmopolitan, Vodka Tonic, Apple Martini, Chocolate Martini, Long Island Iced Tea, and Bloody Mary. Since it has no distinct taste, color, or flavor, it’s the best mixing liquor of all of the base spirits. The most popular brands are Stolichnaya and Absolut. This drink is 40 percent alcohol and has a silky texture. When stocking your home bar, get non-flavored vodka. You can mix it with almost anything.

Rye Whiskey

This popular drink is all over the place in classic cocktails. Rye whiskey is made with wheat, rye, and barley. It’s similar in taste to Bourbon and can be mixed with most drinks. Some of the finest whiskey cocktails include Pickleback, Manhattan, Seven and Seven, John Collins, Frisco Sour, and Algonquin.

Gin

A bottle of Plymouth gin would be the perfect addition to your home bar. This versatile beverage is extremely mixable, perfect for your favorite cocktails. You can use gin to prepare fabulous drinks such as martini, Yale Cocktail, Texas Tea, London Cup, Minnehaha, Electric Iced Tea, Gin & Tonic, Bee’s Knees, Tom Collins, and New Orleans Fizz. Choose popular brands like Hendrick’s, Hertekamp, Martin Miller’s London Dry, and Old Raj.

White Rum

Any home bar should have both dark and light rum. Light-bodied rum has a clean, light flavor, and mixes well with most drinks. It’s used in lots of cocktails and tropical drinks, including Blue Hawaiian, Frozen Daiquiri, Bacardi, Mojito, Pina Colada, Anejo Highball, Caipirinha, and Hurricane. This subtle liquor is similar to vodka, but has a sweeter taste.

Dark Rum

Dark rums are combined with light rum in many cocktails. They have a rich flavor that most people love. They are delicious when served hot and buttered. The best cocktails with dark rum include the 1972 Old Way Mai Tai, the Old Caribbean, Black Forest, Bushwacker, Melon Bomb, Eggnog, Mai Tai, Zombie, and Brass Monkey. This fine beverage is made from molasses and retains its natural flavor.

Modern Home Bar Ideas for Every Taste

Home Bar Designs & Planning, Home Bar Themes

Have you ever thought about adding a Renaissance bar or a tiki bar to your home? People go to pubs and bars to enjoy a good drink and chat with their friends. A home bar would make it easier for you to entertain your friends and prepare fabulous drinks at a fraction of the price. Why go somewhere else for a bit of fun when you can have it all at your home? You can choose a bar with leather-backed chairs and glass shelves, or one with glossy black designs and metallic accents. Some models include video game systems, televisions, pool tables, draft systems, and ice machines. Here are some modern home bar ideas for every taste:

Portable Cocktail Stations

Portable cocktail stations are great choices for smaller homes with limited space. They can be showcased as an elegant piece of furniture that will enhance the overall appearance of your home. If you want to have a home bar but don’t have the space to build one, consider buying a portable cocktail station. It’s one of the most versatile types of bars for home owners.

Corner Bars

Corner bars are ideal for small living areas. Some models boast granite countertops, full-height doors, large serving shelves, wooden stemware racks, and cocktail storage space. A stylish corner bar can turn your living room or basement into an extraordinary multi-functional living space.

Rustic Home Bars

A rustic home bar will add value to your home and enhance its look. This type of bar is usually made of solid wood, featuring a casual and elegant design that will work great in a rustic holiday home. You can pick a model with nickel finish hardware, bottle storage and wine storage, worn black finish, cushioned metal shelf clips, and locking doors for added security. Rustic home bars come in a variety of finishes and colors to match your room decor.

Mobile Folding Bars

Mobile folding bars provide great utility with their space saving design. The usually have chrome foot rails, brushed steel hardware, and solid wood construction. This beautiful piece of furniture is going to be a focal point inside your home for years to come. Some models feature adjustable levelers for stability, multi-arched details, black granite serving tops, and antique brass finish hardware. A mobile folding bar will help you save space while adding a touch of elegance to your home. Since there are so many designs available, you can easily find one that suits your taste.

Things to Consider When Buying a Home Bar

Bar Furniture, Home Bar Designs & Planning

What could be more exciting than having your own bar at home? It would be place where you can relax and enjoy fine drinks with your family and friends. Before you go shopping for a home bar, do a little research. Consider its location, purpose, theme, materials, and features, as well as the number of shelves and counters. You also have to pick a home bar design that matches your kitchen or living room.

Choose a Location

The overall design and structure of your new home bar depends on its location. If you have a small home, you can build a bar in your basement or outdoors. Keep in mind important factors such as electrical outlets, plumbing installation, lighting, refrigeration, and room temperature.

Some people place their home bar in the living room so that they don’t have to walk all the way to the kitchen to grab some snacks. Others prefer placing the bar in the kitchen to have their glasses, drinks, and snacks in close proximity. The choice is entirely yours.

Select a Theme

From sports bars to built-in home bars, tiki bars, retro bars, corner bars, and trunk bars, there are hundreds of models out there. Make sure you pick a home bar theme that fits with the overall décor of the room. If you’re going to place the bar in the entertainment room, you can choose a model with neon signs and sports memorabilia. For an elegant room with classic furniture, use a traditional home bar with solid wood decorations. A corner bar is ideal for small rooms. A straight bar or front bar requires space. Select a home bar design only after you’ve chosen the location.

Features

Some home bars have pull out shelves, storage areas, cabinets, and sinks, while others have a more basic design. You can even set up a draft beer system for your home bar. If you want a model that looks professional and classy, choose one with matching bar stools. You can buy a home bar with a sink, or one that only has a water hose. Some models come with an icemaker, refrigerator, running water, draft taps, and bartending equipment.

Analyze your budget and determine how much you’re willing to spend on a home bar. More expensive models are made from quality materials and have lots of great features. You can even build your own home bar and customize it to your taste.

5 Types of Home Bars That Will Impress Your Guests

Home Bar Themes, Parties & Entertaining

Home bar designs vary from one manufacturer to the next. There are hundreds of models to choose from, including solid wood bars, wet bars, portable bars, and permanent home bars. Tiki bars and rustic home bars are very popular. This piece of furniture should complement your home and enhance its value. It could be a good source of enjoyment for you, your family, and your friends. When choosing a home bar design, you’ll need to consider your budget, as well as the space available.

Here are five types of home bars that will impress your guests:

Portable Home Bars

A portable home bar can be put away when it’s not used. You can easily move it from one room to another. This type of bar allows you to serve drinks with style without having to permanently dedicate an area of your home to entertaining. It’s the perfect choice for those with limited space. Portable home bars usually have wheels on the bottom, so you can move them around the house or outdoors. Some models fold up when they are not in use. They are less expensive than permanent home bars and provide a lot of versatility.

Permanent Home Bars

Permanent home bars come in all shapes and sizes. Some models can be secured so that children don’t have access to alcoholic drinks. They can be beautiful pieces of furniture that will turn your home into a fabulous living space. A permanent home bar consists of a long counter table, matching bar stools and other accessories. This model offers plenty of storage room for bottles and glasses.

Built-In Home Bars

This type of home bar offers all the features and convenience of a real bar, scaled to the size you need. Built-in home bars are available in different colors, sizes, and themes. They can provide a luxurious retreat for you and your guests. Nothing adds more beauty and value to your home than a built-in home bar.

Tiki Bars

Tiki bars have an exotic look and unique features like bamboo roofs, shields, masks, statues, and custom signs. Most models are small enough to fit a kitchen or living room with limited space. They usually have two or more shelves for bottles and glasses.

Sports Bars

Most men love sports bars. These pieces of furniture are absolutely fabulous. It’s the furniture you’ve been looking for your man cave. Some feature wine storage and built-in entertainment centers, black granite countertops, automated lighting, and a sports design.

What Type of Alcohol Should Your Home Bar Have?

Parties & Entertaining, Stocking your home bar

Starting a bar at home is quite easy. All you need is some free space and a few quality drinks. What is the best way for a cocktail enthusiast to stock his home bar? What type of alcohol should you have? First of all, you should stock up on essential liquors. A few bottles of wine, vodka, gin, bourbon, run, whiskey, and tequila will do the trick. If you have a bottle of each of these, you can make at least 100 different cocktails.

Make a list of cocktails that you enjoy. The list can also include common mixed drinks. This will help you determine what ingredients you need for your favorite beverages. For example, the White Russian is a creamy mixed drink that contains vodka, cream, and Kahlua coffee liqueur. The classic Martini is made with vodka or gin, dry vermouth, orange bitter, and green olives for garnish. If you love the original Kamikaze shooter, you can prepare it with vodka, triple sec, and lime juice. The Caramel Appletini contains butterscotch schnapps, green apple vodka, and a green apple slice for garnish. The beverages you stock in your bar will depend on what cocktails you want to serve.

In addition to basic drinks, you can have separate bottles of different whiskey, as well as separate bottles of dark and light rum. Make substitutions of needed. Don’t be afraid to try new drinks. When shopping for beverages, look for retailers who are willing to help you learn about the different kinds of drinks.

When it comes to buying vodka, choose popular brands like Smirnoff, Stolichnaya, and Absolut. Mexican tequila is a good choice for your home bar. If you want to buy white rum, choose Bacardi. Havana Club and Cuba Libre are some of the best brands of dark rum. English dry gin is a staple for the classic martini, so you should definitely have it in your home bar. Stock some triple sec if you’re making margaritas. Coffee liquor is essential for preparing coffee drinks. White and red vermouth are a must have for any cocktail enthusiast.

Your home bar can also have brandy, Irish cream, rye whiskey, apple liquor, campari, blended scotches, and peppermint schnapps. These are the absolute essentials for your bar. However, you shouldn’t spend a fortune on beverages that you will rarely use. Pick drinks you actually enjoy. After all, it’s your bar. It should reflect your personal taste and make it easier for you to prepare delicious drinks.