by Wm. David Waterman

Created on: June 14, 2008   Last Updated: July 16, 2008

Adding a bar to your home that is functional and makes your home more attractive is quite easy to do. There are a few important things to remember when planning the location and position of the bar in the house in relation to the room layout and typical traffic areas of your home.

Some of the decisions you need to decide is whether it is a wet or dry bar, and the position it needs to be in order to access power supply for electrical appliances as well as the access to the water and drain if it is a wet bar.

Generally, You want to place the bar in a location where it is easily accessable from both the dining and living room areas. In this way it is possible to prepare beverages for guests without stepping out of the room and out of earshot if entertaining. If there is a private den or large family room in the house take the position of that room into account as well when placing the bars position. Consideration should be given to where you are going to be most likely to entertain and will need the bar for that purpose.

When planning your bar take into consideration what the most common beverage or food will be served from the bar and plan to provide adequate means to do the most common actions. If you are going to be storing and serving wine consider adding an appropiate wine rack to the design. Cigar smokers might want to add a humidor for the storing of their finest cigars and a wine cooler may also be something you would want. These can be installed with humidity and teperature controls to insure keeping your favorites in good condition. The important thing is to provide for those things you want to do at your bar.

Other than the sink there are several appliances that you might want to consider adding to the plan. The favorite item is a under counter refrigerator that will keep ice available for mixed and chilled drinks. If there is a favorite beer in your list of drinks or bottled drinks of a non-alcohol nature the refrigerator is useful to keep a small supply chilled for immediate use. A blender is another item that usually gets used heavily at a bar, and for the coffee and tea drinkers, you might want to consider an esspresso machine, coffee maker, or ice tea maker. You can design and plan the bar so it becomes the beverage point for the household thus reucing the traffic through the kitchen area. The lady of the house might very well appreciate not having to share the kitchen with the traffic to and from the refrigerator and sink while she is cooking, baking, or creating her culinary delights.

When the time for actual installation comes, I always advise people to only tackle what they are comfortable in doing. Otherwise, hire a contractor. Simple dry bars can actually be assembled using factory made cabinet components and installing them in the design you desire.
But only build it yourself if you are above average in carpentry skills. Building a bar is advanced cabinetry work and even some older more experianced carpenters are not comfortable with building cabinets. If you do decide to build the bar yourself, build it as a free standing unit so that you don't clutter your living space for an extended period wih tools and lumber and wood parts during the process of building. Doing so may mean sacrificing a garage stall for awhile but you will retain your sanity in the process. whether building the bar yourself or using cabinet components to build it or hiring a contractor, measure twice and make sure there is enough space allowed to make room for whatever appliances you include in your design.

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