You don’t have to renovate a full basement into a 1970’s-style billiards hall/beer bar to become the host with the most. You also don’t have to redesign the guest room into a speakeasy and stock the cabinets with rare and historically accurate ingredients. When your home is the default gathering spot for your friends and family, you don’t have to do any redecorating at all. But it sure can be fun (and convenient) to have some dedicated space for the locals. All it takes to make it happen is some proper bar furniture and a little decor to set the mood.
A Place for Drinks
Everybody already knows how to grab their favorite beverages and ransack the kitchen fridge for snacks. But just imagine how great it would be to show them to a fully stocked mini-fridge or wine cooler! A simple dorm-style refrigerator/freezer will fit a little bit of this and that while a dedicated cooler/beverage chiller will store bottles and cans picture-perfectly and at just the right temperature. As a bonus, both will discourage your hungry pals from swiping those leftovers you’d set aside for the kids’ dinner tomorrow, too. Hopefully.
A Place for Serving
Having a place to store all the items you’ve dedicated for entertaining—like glassware, tableware, serving pieces, prep tools, napkins, etc.—will make your home hang feel more official and open up storage space in your kitchen cabinets and linen closets. You can choose a home wine or bar cabinet that’s compact enough to tuck into an out-of-the-way corner, or generous enough to use as the focal piece of an entire room. But, large or small, be sure to select a cabinet that sets your preferred design mood from modern, industrial, and portable to traditional, polished, and substantial.
A Place to Chill
No hang out is complete if there’s no place for everyone to chill. So, make room for chilling altogether by adding a bar table set and bar stools. Keep it casual with a small counter-height cocktail table and backless stools, or make things feel more intentional with a solid counter-height table and dining-style bar chairs.
No matter how you furnish your gather space, don’t scrimp on setting a whole mood. String lights are a super affordable way to make any space feel more fun. Then add color-coordinated napkins and place mats to help complete a look and protect your home bar furniture from spills and crumbs.
