Sponsored Post – 5 Tips for Setting up Your Own Bar at Home

Setting up Your Own Bar at Home

This guest post about setting up your own bar at home is courtesy of Paul Agelidis, the Founder, and Owner at Revolucion, a cigar, tobacco and men’s gift shop in beautiful Vancouver, BC.

Improve your home by setting up your own bar at home. There are almost endless options when it comes to a bar in your home. You can make it your personal refuge or an entertainment space that will make your home the ultimate hangout destination for your friends.

This post will discuss 5 tips for setting up your own bar at home!

If you’re thinking about setting up your own bar at home, you’re not alone. Home bars are a classic renovation that is currently on the way to becoming a trend again. This has kicked off a wave of innovation and discussion on social media over what makes for the perfect home bar. From among the most tested and most talked-about features, we’ve created a list of tips that will make for the best home bar.

5 Tips for setting up your own bar at home:

Tip #1: Pick your theme before anything else

Avoid the mistake of falling in love with a set of bar furniture, only to then fall in love with a completely contrasting lighting arrangement, by setting your theme in stone before you begin. The theme will guide almost all of your major design purchases, so make sure you’ve made a final decision on the overall look and feel before anything else.

There are plenty to choose from if you’re having trouble with ideas. Consider some of these…

• Sports bar rooms devotion to a certain team is always popular. You can dress up the room like a classic sports bar with well-placed televisions and green hanging lamps. Fill the wall with posters of your favorite teams and players to create the perfect room to enjoy the games.
• Old English opulence can mean dark oak-paneled walls, fine paintings, and overstuffed leather furniture, and it makes for a very compelling aesthetic. This look is perfect if you want to also use your bar as a place to hang awards, travel souvenirs and other interesting pieces from your life.
• A collector’s paradise is an alternative that doesn’t have to be dedicated to entertaining. It can also be devoted to creating a truly impressive collection of drinks from all over the world. If you go with this theme, you’re going to want a lot of display and storage space.

Tip #2: Plan around your favorite drink

Now that you have a theme in mind, take a minute to consider the technology that you’re going to be bringing into the room. Depending on what you like to drink, you may be looking at some very different storage and cooling options.

• Beer: Beer just needs basic refrigerators, but can really benefit from coolers that have glass fronts. That way you can show off any options you have to your friends and visitors. If you want to serve beer from kegs—easily possible even in a small home bar— you can do that by placing kegs in a walkway or underneath your bar.
• Wine: Many wines can be served at room temperature, but special wine refrigerators can preserve the character of opened or older bottles if you’re a serious collector. They are small enough that you could easily integrate them into the wall. If you really want to go all out, you can also build a mini wine cellar directly into the floor.
• Liquor: A liquor collection doesn’t need any refrigeration at all, but a small chilling freezer will make it easy to customize the experience for guests. As many liquor bottles are rare, consider a lighted display case with the finest pieces from your collection.

Tip #3: Provide ample options for seating

Even if your home bar is going to be a personal refuge, you want to consider enough seating options for every way you want to use the room over its lifespan. Having a multitude of options will make the bar an easier place to relax and escape from the word.

Consider some of the options that are likely to be appreciated by yourself and your guests…

• Bar stools: Bar stools are a classic option as long as they’re located conveniently close to drinks. They are widely manufactured, so if you choose this seating you’ll enjoy nearly unlimited design choices. It’s not only the colors that are highly customizable, it’s also the stands. They range from classic 50s designs that feature loops as footrests to more biker-bar styles with black leather and chrome.
• Window seating: A home bar is still a great room when you’re not having a drink. Once it’s in your home, it will be perfect when you want a change of scenery for your meals in a room that still has adequate chairs and tables for eating. If you choose window seating, your home bar can be a great place to take your breakfast in the mornings or dinner in the evenings.
• Cozy booths: Some renovators model their home bars after places they used to visit in their youth. If your goal is to capture a place that you once loved, you may be able to get the feeling back with some cozy booths that you can enjoy in your bar with close friends and loved ones.

Tip #4: Consider how the lighting will affect the mood

The lighting you choose will have a major impact on the feeling of the room, so it’s important to give it a lot of consideration before you begin building. Natural lighting can improve almost any room, so expanding the windows in the existing space can be a great first act of a home bar renovation.

Dim lighting can sometimes be preferable to keep with the theme. Adjustable lighting can make it easy to switch between that and the lighting you need for cleaning. Hanging shaded lamps can create that classic smoky effect that’s been used by pool halls since the 70s.

Tip #5: Think ahead about scent control

Finally, make sure that you don’t forget the importance of scent control before you finish your home bar. Even small leaks, such as those found in kegs, or spills can make for powerful smells that waft through the rest of the home. Make sure that you compensate for any of these problems by installing good ventilation, or placing plants that can spread a fresher smell.

About the Author:

Paul Agelidis has been the founder and owner of Revolucion, a Canadian cigar, tobacco and men’s gift shop in Vancouver, since 2005. For the last decade, Paul has worked very hard to become an expert in tobacco products, men’s care, travel & accessories, body & bath, and gifts & home. Prior to 2005, from 1997 – 2005 Paul worked in the wholesale cigar industry and traveled to the annual cigar trade show (Habanos Festival every February). He loves to share his tips with others who are looking to achieve a complete lifestyle with the finer things in life.