Give Your Home The Tavern Treatment

Ever wish you and your mates could go to a pub where you don’t have to worry about long cues, noisy patrons and bad music? Looking for a way to liven up your house parties? If so, building your own home bar area is the perfect solution.

To keep your spirits high, we’ve prepared some tips to keep in mind when creating the watering hole that works for you.

Go With An Exposed Industrial Look

Although the old-fashioned wood panel look is timeless, the exposed industrial look is certainly trendier and will allow you to get away with more minimalistic décor options for your bar room. This style is cost-effective and gives you plenty of opportunities to get creative.

An example of the exposed industrial look would be to contrast stainless steel/ metallic bar stools, cocktail shakers and sinks with a wooden bench top (the darker, richer colours of jarrah wood are particularly effective for bringing out the metallic colours). Having an exposed brick wall behind the bar is another effective way to ‘hipsterize’ your bar area.

Display Your Barware With Pride

Wine bottles, decanters, stemware and barrels shouldn’t just be thought of as vessels. If arranged correctly, these can give your bar a distinct charm. To free up space, and showcase your best bottles, leave some space behind your bar for a built-in wine rack. If the traditional wine-rack look doesn’t fit your modern decor, you could go with something more funky, such as a honeycomb or diagonally sloping wine rack. Installing a suspended rack for your bottles and glasses is another simple, affordable, yet striking, way to use the barware you have to compliment your design.

Make The Most of the Space You Have

Just because you have limited space, doesn’t mean you have to compromise on style and functionality when building your own bar. One nifty space-saving idea is using raised trays. These are perfect for placing snacks, drinks or even décor items while still having room underneath for other items.

To reduce clutter, and really take the rustic charm up a notch, you could also include built-in bottle openers at the edges of your bar top.

Boost the Mood With Billiards

Whether you are considering adding a games room extension to your home, or just looking for a way to add more life to your house parties, nothing goes together quite as well as bars and billiards. The prospect of enjoying a cold beer at the counter before cuing up another shot is guaranteed to get your mates coming around more often. However, if a pool table isn’t your style (or you simply don’t have the space) you could easily set up a card table or even a darts board.

To get that real sports bar vibe going, you could hang up some sports memorabilia or display any trophies you may have behind the bar counter.