SHOPPING FOR A WELL-CURATED HOME BAR

Since the pandemic, people are finding ways to spend time with friends and family in the comfort of their own homes. Some are transforming an area of their houses into a home theater, game room, or home bar.  At-home bars are hubs for fun, and they allow you to make your own rules in decor and decorum, thus becoming your home’s designated area for letting loose for you and your guests. 

Whether you’re thinking of positioning your bar next to your kitchen, out in your garden, or tucked away on a separate floor, you will want it to make a lasting impression. Just like owners of bar businesses, you’d like your guests to enjoy their stay to keep them coming back for more. A surefire way to achieve this is by giving them a space that feels good, thanks to a well-curated combination of accessories and practical fixtures. 

Here, we list down ideas for both of these things. Having your very own version of recreational spots like bars in the convenience of your home is a design trend that’s here to stay,  so get moving and start collecting pieces that’ll make your vision of your home bar real. 

1. Laying the foundation

Lofty Red Shag Rug

Homeowners often forget floorspace when styling their home bars literally! For maximum impact, don’t just consider bar accessories and decor at eye level. Think about how a good area rug or floor poof that matches your flooring, be it patterned tiles or marbled wood paneling, can amplify a room. Dressing up your bar’s floor can make the area appear much fuller with little effort while adding so much drama to the theme or vibe you’re going for. Plus, soft floor accessories automatically conjure up images of coziness. They’re an excellent way to counter the traditional perception of bars being metallic, industrial spots in the home, turning them into warm places to hang out for hours on end with friends and family. 

• Jewel-colored rugs with lots of soft texture pass the cozy vibe check. They encourage a more casual feel to a get-together, even inviting guests to plop down on the floor and get the conversation going. The Lofty Red Shag Rug is a prime example of what you can do here. It works great as an extension of the main seating area too. 
• Some homeowners take the chance to decorate their at-home bars in ways that transport guests to an entirely different world. If this is the effect you’re trying to get, consider how the Morgan Wool Green Rug with a lived-in design is reminiscent of taverns from long ago. It can be set next to a low table or at the foot of a couch to perimeter your space nicely. 
• Poufs are the easiest way to make any home setup more dynamic. They’re an unexpected addition to a layout, yet when present, they never fail to delight everyone. Have several of the Primrose Floor Pillow scattered around the main gathering area, and you’ll be good to go. Just make sure you have enough of these pillows, as your guests will be clamoring to get their own!

2. Seating 

Micah Counter Height Stool.

When it comes to bars getting high scores on the fun-o-meter, the first thing to take care of is drinks. Immediately after that is seating. Patrons (or, in this case, your house guests) will want somewhere to settle in once they have a drink in hand and are ready to chat the night away. Comfort is the name of the game if you want your guests to enjoy themselves and want to come back for a second round, but this certainly doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style in the process. Bar design is great that way; you’re free to get creative with how you mix and match seating options and how to intersect functionality and fashion. 

• Shake the idea that at-home bars only belong in your basement. That’s only one option in the many things you can do because bars can also be in an area that allows light and a breeze to come in! Beautifully suited for these spaces are chairs with natural wood finishes, such as the Micah Counter Height Stool. You don’t want the focal point to be your seating arrangement so go for something that compliments, rather than dominates, your overall bar setup. 
• Dark leather is a ubiquitous material in a bar setting, and for a good reason. It’s tough against stains, has more uncomplicated maintenance needs than fabric, and gets more comfortable with age when properly cared for. Longevity and elegance are what leather-accented chairs bring to you. Pieces like the Quaker Swivel Cappuccino Counter Stool get this done and, yes, are undeniably sexy too. Their swivel detail makes them ideal for socialization among guests, so go ahead and line them up along your bar counter to get guests talking. 
• Don’t forget about poolside bars. Now they make an already fun addition to your home twice as engaging! Poolside bars call for seats that are water-resistant yet Instagrammable. You want something with good balance as well to prevent accidents, given potential wet floors, feet, and hands that you’ll naturally have to anticipate. Check out the Modern Grey Wood Outdoor Bar Stool that easily takes your setup from day to night while fitting right in with boozy brunches and dressy night parties alike. 

3. Tables 

Holt Bar Shelf/Serving Table 

Moving onto tables, you’re free to be practical or experimental. It’s up to the kind of atmosphere you want to provide your guests when they come over. A table can blend in and remain a piece of furniture, or it can be a centerpiece in its own right and, yes, get the party started in more ways than one. The most important things to consider are your table’s sturdiness and whether it has a wide enough surface area, so it fulfills its primary purpose of being a repository of glasses. Avoid preventable spillage and breakage at all costs to save yourself the headaches of cleaning up and putting your guests in awkward situations. 

• What else is there to say about the Gold Modern yet Retro Glass Bar Table? It’s stylish and certainly calls attention to itself. Metallic accents are always a pretty addition to a bar because they’re able to reflect light and brighten up a nook or cranny. When molded into unusual shapes, a simple piece of furniture, such as a table, takes on sculpture-like qualities. You hit two birds with one stone: a table that does the job and an art piece all in one. 
• A bar table need not be a flat countertop. Explore other ways to show off your collection of glasses and drinks. After all, beverage containers are manufactured to be displayed, not just drunk from! The Holt Bar Shelf/Serving Table is a prime example of what you can do to replace, or add to, your regular bar top. Its layered shelves are perfect for bringing to the forefront what you’ll be using and serving for the night, and its neat silhouette acts like a cute little live picture frame for whoever is manning the bar. 
• Mobile bars are also a great option if you’re the type of host who likes to flutter around your guests. A bar trolly has lots of personality because it’s fun in and of itself. The fact that your guests can live in total convenience and spoiledness as you take their drinks to them without ever having to get up is a grand experience. Purchase the Black Hertford Bar Cart to win your guests over this way. 

4. Lighting and fixtures 

Emma 20" 4-Light Crystal LED Bronze Chandelier 

Lighting makes or breaks any room, more so for bars where ambiance is everything. Don’t scrimp on appropriate light fixtures that set the tone right, and again, use this opportunity to refine the personality of your bar. Just remember that bars need both practical and decorative light fixtures. You’ll want to have regular house lights in place for when you need to tidy up before and after gatherings or should guests need illumination during a party for whatever reason. Once you have this figured out, feel free to install all the light accessories you desire. There truly aren’t any rules except to pick out what speaks to your taste and what you decide goes best with your bar’s feel. 

• Sconce lights are always popular with bar setups. They act as signages that direct guests where to go and where the fun is at. The Brown Iron Industrial LED Wall Sconce does the job well without being too on the nose about it. It’s relatively dim, so you can easily use it as an add-on to your ceiling lights that’ll be doing the brunt of the work of providing your functional lighting. 
• Chandeliers are a worthy investment for the home. When you pick the right one, the rest of your decor will be anchored on a magnificent center of attention. For a bar, this means having a hanging piece that provides a focal point that, well, makes everything make sense. The Emma 20" 4-Light Crystal LED Bronze Chandelier is a real beauty, evoking images from the heyday of 1920s art deco and limitless fun. It’s feminine yet strong, vintage yet at par with contemporary looks. If what you’d like to achieve in your bar is to have just a single main attraction with everything else surrounding it being minimalist and simple, this is the kind of lighting you want. 
• There’s a certain kind of magic you can pull off when you’re able to make light and shadow work to your advantage. It adds mystery, allure, and even romance to any space that’s deliberately lit this way. It’s exactly what you want your bar-goers to be immersed in. You want a bar that’s bright enough so no one is stubbing toes or tripping on each other, but you also want to play with a degree of concealment so guests can indulge in semi-anonymity. Enter the Romanza Postmodern Tripod With Drum Shade Matte Black Floor Lamp, whose glow from the inside out is what you’re looking for here. 

5. Bar accessories

Siren Bottle Stopper Bar Tool

A bar is fair game when it comes to accessories. Be as quirky, chic, modern, or all of the above as you please! One of your goals with bar accessories is getting your guests to start talking. Perhaps steer clear of conventionally designed bar paraphernalia and opt for items sure to elicit positive reactions from guests as they pour in. If they’re taking pictures of your bar accessories or asking you where you purchased them, you know you got things spot on. Whether you’re going for fun colors, playful pieces, or artful designs, don’t hold back. Never forget that a bar is an experience and not just something to look at from a safe distance or a place to get drinks from. Accessories help make this happen and leave everyone with great memories to look back on from when you hosted them. 

• Your bar will be expected to be full of bottles whose contents may or may not be emptied out by the time everyone heads home. All throughout a gathering, you could also be pouring its contents into several people’s glasses and needing to seal it for the next round. Bottle stoppers exist for this purpose, but they’re literally the most unnoticeable yet important accessories at any bar! Up your bar stopper game with the Siren Bottle Stopper Bar Tool. It essentially looks like a mermaid diving into a bottle to get her own swig — who wouldn’t want to see that? 
• A bar would stop functioning without ice. The party stops when you run out of rocks, which is why it’s imperative that you're fully stocked on this essential. But for homeowners with more sophisticated tastes and won’t settle for regular tube or dispensed ice, direct your gaze to the Glacier Rocks Ice Sphere Molds Bar Tool. They’re the definition of “extra” as they exist only to mold your ice into crystal-like shapes, but the guests that are lucky enough to get them in their drinks won’t be able to ignore how cool they make a beverage look. 
• Even the most overlooked bar stuff need not be what they’re expected to be or look like. Think about the bottle opener or corkscrew. They’re in everyone’s homes and even considered utility tools that are rarely given a second thought. Unless you surprise your guests by handing them the Fantastic Fox Waiter's Corkscrew Bar Tool, which is equal parts charming and useful! The devil is in the details when it comes to accessorizing, and that includes this. 

6. Conversation pieces

Gold Stoneware Vase 

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with decorating just because. A bar might be full of items that serve the dual purposes of being eye-catching and functional, but nothing should stop you from including decor whose only purpose is to beautify the spot. Besides, parts of your home are extensions of yourself, and something as fun and creative as an at-home bar should be an awesome reflection of the things you love or aspire to be. Surround yourself with the things that bring you joy here and make you feel that you’re in a space that’s recognizably you. 

• The Gold Stoneware Vase might appeal to the bar hosts that seek earthy elements. It brings to mind the strength of boulders and the riches the land holds while being perfectly suited for indoor, rather than outdoor, decorating. A bar’s dim light can bring out the best in its stone and gold painted detail combination in the most flattering way. Their stable bases also make them easy to style; it’s easy to imagine them atop side tables or on the floor, but either way, they’ll make a statement. 
• Moving elements can add a visual treat to your bar. Now you don’t have to become too literal about this and incorporate a mobile piece. You can play tricks on the eyes with shadows on a wall or sensually crawl up certain spots with the help of this Gold Metal Eclectic Square Base and Round Opening Lantern that can be lit with a real or a flameless candle. Position it in a place that you want to highlight or add depth to to tantalize your guests. 
• Sculptures make great conversation starters. Quiet and still, they manage to make their presence felt when well situated. Perhaps place one at your bar’s entry way, a table that guests will surround, or on the side of your bar’s counter. You want your art piece to get as much exposure as possible, especially when it’s as mesmerizing as the Contemporary Abstract Grey Metal Sculpture.