How to set up a bar at home

Posted on: November 22nd, 2016

A proper home bar is one thing every grown-up home should have — even if you don’t drink, you should always have something on-hand to offer your guests. Whether you’re just beginning to make cocktails and appreciate spirits, or you’ve been mixing for years, we will help you set up a beautiful home bar that inspires you to try new things.

There’s no denying that bars are one of the hottest furnishings. If you have the space for it, they make a great dedicated area for mixing a drink, and they’re welcoming, too, so guests can feel comfortable walking up and making their own.

If your bar is open, be mindful of organizing it neatly. You may even want to store your less frequently used items in a pantry, so it doesn’t look too cluttered or messy. For this same reason, a lot of times bar cabinets with doors are more functional, as the Corridor Bar that has double louvered doors that open fully, providing easy access to everything that a stocked bar needs. The cabinet offers racking space for wine bottles and storage for a host of liquor bottles on shelves and doors. A wooden stemware rack keeps wine glasses within easy reach and other shelves provide storage for glasses, tumblers and other supplies.

The Weekly cabinet has inner partitions and shelves veneered and covered in leather, drawers and open units, that allow you to organize it properly.

Many houses have dry bars (meaning they don’t have a sink) that are designed with mixology in mind, with shelves for bottles of liquors and glassware and drawers for bar tools. If you have one, store your less frequently used spirits and glassware in the cabinets below, and keep your go-to bottles accessible.

The first rule of stocking your bar is to choose spirits you actually enjoy. This is the only way to develop a knack for making and appreciating cocktails. Once you nail a few favorite cocktails, your interest and palate for other spirits is bound to expand — we guarantee it.

And lastly, don’t do it all at once. Liquor is expensive, so start small. All you need is one great cocktail to impress your guests, and if you learn to craft a few things well, others will take notice and appreciate that.