A coffee and tea bar with mug, tea/coffee, sugar, honey, electric tea pot, drip coffee pot and Brita water filter. Silverware drawer beneath it, fridge behind you when you turn around for easy access to cream.

We created our home bar in an antique armoire. We enjoy the way we've preserved this family piece. It always stirs conversation with guests!

Yes I do, and really enjoy it with family and friends!

it is getting built now

Not a built bar, but an antique tray of vintage glassware, silver ice bucket with a champagne bottle inside, and bottles of liquor on the sideboard. It's inviting. On the coffee table, I keep a beautiful tray of small hors d'oeuvres plates, cloth cocktail napkins, and tiny silver forks out all the time. There are always olives in the fridge, nuts in the cabinet, and frozen hors d'oeuvres in the freezer. We're always ready for company! Ditto with a teapot and thrift shop bone teacups on a side table. These are not a huge setups; the liquor bar and tea station could go on couple bookshelves. Every chair in the living has a place where you can put down a cup or glass, and the sofa is in easy reach of the coffee table.

I once visited a friend's mother who had been involved with the Broadway theater. She lived in a small in-law wing of her daughter's house. The open living/dining/kitchen area had theater posters on the wall, an ice bucket with the champagne bottle in it, and a tray of lovely glassware, little plates out on the kitchen counter,etc. There was something so festive and welcoming about her place that I tried to capture that feeling when we moved to a different house.

Our original kitchen design had a small island and a larger L-shaped bar height counter that divided the room. When we renovated, we removed the L-shaped counter but knew we utilized that area for drinks during entertaining. While we don't drink alcohol, my husband loves his coffee so it is a coffee bar. Bye bye, Starbucks!

coltsneck07722 thanks for asking if I have a refrigerator. Nah, got rid of it years ago because as you point out there's an obesity epidemic so I don't eat or prepare meals for visitors. :)) Your analogy is a bit wacky.

We have a small vintage-inspired one made of driftwood. It has soft lighting to complete the look and feel of a real bar. We have the home bar set up just adjacent to the entertainment area offering an outdoor ambiance.

We don't have a traditional bar, but we do have a wine cabinet and a liquor cabinet. We entertain quite a bit, but don't have a house conducive to a bar. We prefer to wander aimlessly from room to room.

We don't drink much ourselves, and we find that our guests also rarely do. People nowadays are more conscious to avoid drinking and driving, etc.

I don't have enough room in my new house but in my old one I had a bar setup on top of an old antique sewing machine. Above it I had a wine rack with glasses. Maybe when I redo my kitchen I'll be able to squeeze in a place for it.

I don't have a bar, but there is always wine in the fridge and liquor in the pantry!

It came with the house and we've NEVER used it (35 yrs) for anything other than game or other storage. It's a waste of space to ordinary families like us.

Yes, we bought a ranch built in 1994 two years ago and it had what I called a butler's pantry. I used it to store specialty glassware, wine and other spirits. I love it, and now that I've read the comments, I'm going to move my coffee maker in there!

Don't want/like a home bar? Don't build/have one.

Don't judge others based on your personal choices and life experiences.

From my travels in life: everyone's story is unique, and, should be honored, regardless of one's personal beliefs to the contrary.

I can empathize with someone who has had to live with an alcoholic, from my own personal experiences growing up. Doesn't mean I turned into one, and, it doesn't mean I assume anyone who drinks is one, as well.

Mine is a rolling bar cart. a friend needed to downsize so she gave me hers. I had to replace one glass shelf, painted all the brass a flat black, and installed black casters instead of the brass/white ones.

Liquor bottles, liqueurs, mixers, water and soda on the bottom shelf, glasses are grouped together according to type on the middle shelf and an ice bucket and barware on the top.

When using I put bar napkins, lemon, lime, nuts, flowers... and hang a couple of bar towels on the handle.Very easy and very complementary in my designated area. I take it from room to room as needed even outside for bar b q's.
Someone made me a liquor shelf for Christmas one year from a wooden pallet and I hung it above the cart. I put liquor bottles on the shelves and hang the wine glasses in the premature slots.

We have a wet bar in the family room, but I feel it looks dated and I would rather have that space converted into a pantry.

Love having a bar area-- we call it the butler's pantry

Basement bar or extra kitchen area off of main entertaining area.

We agonised over a unit to use as our home bar but settled on this...

We have a wet bar on the lanai. It came with the house, and we replaced the cabinet, counter, sink and faucet. The counter is used to feed the two cats (the dog eats their food if it's on the floor) I water the plants in the large round sink, pet food and pet toys are in the cabinets. When company comes, we clean it well, fill the sink with ice, load in the wine and beer bottles, put out the glasses and snacks. We have no need for a dedicated drinking space 24/7, outside of the kitchen.

Hayley and others... Relax! People can have bars and not be alcoholics. And I'm sure many people don't have bars precisely because they're alcoholics.

Believe it or not, bars can be used for non alcoholic drinks... coffee, tea, juice, etc.

If people want bars, for alcohol or other beverages, that's their prerogative. How many of you teetotalers eat meat, are overweight, smoke, do drugs, gamble, have partner or sex addictions, lie, cheat, hate, etc.? Stop judging people!

BTW, we have a bar that we use for booze, overflow kitchenware, our pet supplies, and as a showcase for herbs and plants. We LOVE it, as do our guests who like lounging their with an espresso or cup of tea.

DennaJones, it's a perfectly logical and appropriate analogy... not whacky at all.

No bar ATM, but if I had space I'd add something. We aren't big drinkers but I like to play with mixing cocktails and the like occasionally, and wine with some meals, so I'd like a good place to store all the "stuff" that can be kept apart from the regular kitchen items.

My ideal would probably be a dual purpose tea/coffee or wine/cocktails area, rather than an actual bar with stools. I like the idea of a beverage station outside of the kitchen itself, so people can get coffee, etc without getting in the way of the cook, and I do have a decent collection of loose tea also.

My brother has a Butler's pantry in his house which is also rather nice - it serves as a sort of combination bar (mostly wine, with a wine fridge) and storage for special holiday and large serving pieces so they aren't in the way in the main kitchen cabinets, and then one corner is also a sort of staging area where outgoing mail and the like can be put to be grabbed on the way out the door, as it is very close to the garage. So it works for them without making the wine storage very prominent in the house.

I honestly don't think having a bar means you are an alcoholic - there is a lot of cultural variation in terms of what is expected to have on hand to offer to guests, and I know a lot of people who are foodies who treat cocktails as a sort of expansion of food. They love to try out recipes, and so have a lot of different ingredients, but rarely go beyond one drink in an evening, if that.

just an affirmation on setting up a beverage area out of the main kitchen work triangle.......I always keep my coffee pot n& mugs far away from the sink and closest to the kitchen table.....so much better flow even if most days its just me in the kitchen......

I have a breakfast bar, but I doubt if that's what you mean. There's an in-law flat that is part of my house that was supposedly built to be what we now call a "man cave" with a wet bar. At some point in the past a previous owner made the bar into a kitchenette. I use it to host Airbnb guests, otherwise it would be wasted space that I have no use for.

We bought an old 1970's home. it had a sunken bar in the living room that had a sink, ice maker and storage, it was ridiculous. We removed it and floored over the space and closed off the water source. We do have large parties occasionally but the space dedicated to a bar in the living room was not practical. Everyone gathers in my kitchen and this is the best space to blend/mix a drink for easy cleanup. A recent remodel gave me a space in the kitchen for use as a drink bar, whether it be coffee or margaritas, or sodas. No bar refrig and no sink!

I guess it depends on what you drink or serve and what you need to make those drinks. A drink bar can be custom soda, coffee bar, martini bar, or a combination, or a full bar offering. To each his own! I will say that a designated space for serving drinks of any kind is a plus. It divides drink service and food service and provides a space for beverages that in a buffet service for me is indespensible.

I don't have one right now, but i am planning to have a home bar

I love my bar. Use it regularly! Especially enjoy it when entertaining - for beverage center, alcoholic beverages or soft drinks, lemonade, or or iced tea.

A home bar or a home coffee corner is great idea! So many cool designs in this post

Realtor photo. Floor has been updated with a dark walnut laminate and walls painted a latte brown. Hoping to add sink and use as an espresso/juice bar :-)

Most of our clients jump on the idea of designing a home bar. Whether it be a full bar in the basement or a bar tucked away near the kitchen, our clients enjoy building a bar suited to their needs. Some of our clients build a bar not for alcohol, but for coffee and tea. It is great for entertaining.

I agree with coltsneck07722

Having a bar doesn't mean that you are contributing to an alcohol problem. It gives you a place to prepare drinks (soda pop, coffee, etc) outside of the kitchen counter space. And if you are doing the cooking, you appreciate not having extra people underfoot.

I have a couple of bars and they serve several purposes. Alcohol, soft drinks, juice, coffee, serving space. Each of my bars has a different form which works for the space it serves.

My dry bar is like a closet in the Family Room. I'm thinking of reversing it to the kitchen side.

iIompoc: or make it double sided so you can prep from both sides and it serves as a pass thru serving area for the family room. Some nice double sided overhead cabinets with glass doors would be neat too. And the cabinets below could be peninsula cabinets with access to both sides.

We do not have a bar at home because I can't drink due to medical issues. We do use Chardonnay in Italian dishes and Rum for marinating steaks.

Nope and never will. We'd rather use the money to build something awesome like a really cool treehouse.

I recently redid cupboards in the kitchen to have all the "breakfast" things in one place - sort of a "breakfast bar" - and I would love to be able to do the same for beverages. We seldom drink alcohol as DH takes meds that potentiate - but I have thought of a dorm-size frig in an easily accessible and not underfoot spot just for chilled water, juice, iced tea, soda - with all the glasses, mugs, coffee maker, electric tea kettle, and the makings right there for easy use. My bottle of Kahlua can go in there for after dinner coffee, too!

It's very easy to create a bar with all the under counter appliances that are now available. Cheers!

I posted my bar earlier, but we wound up converting the area to laundry and I relocated as a dry bar with a couple fridges below.

No for me, but at the time I voted it was 979 yes, 978 no. So incredibly close!

We live in a 4-story, mid-century modern townhouse in Washington, DC, where the kitchen and dining room are on the lowest level. While that is conducive to entertaining in the warmer months, especially because it adjoins a nice patio, this is not the case on the second/main level where we have the living room, a powder room and my husband's office. We took two feet away from the very long powder room and converted it to a wet bar in our living room, which now makes it very convenient to entertain guests without having to run downstairs for glasses, wine, and other related paraphernalia. The small copper sink is unobtrusive and the copper faucet blends into the mosaic tiling which has a nice

copper tone. It gives us plenty of additional cabinetry as well. We ended up with a beautiful powder room which is still 9-ft long even after the conversion.

I would not mind having a bar at home.

Yes and thank you very much! This is the best place in the house- we watch football, play the Wii, host Bunco, play pool, create memories and do taste testing- Love Love Love our bar!

We have two, as I mentioned a while back... now they're (mostly) complete.

The smaller bar (first pic) is upstairs and is our more personal wet bar that fits 6 bar stools (not pictured) around it.

The second pic shows our first floor bar. It's 28' long, and, sits 15 bar stools around it. We ended up with a 6 tap kegorator, double door beer cooler, stove, oven, dishwasher, commercial ice maker, bar sink, and, freezer for frosted glasses. We tried to make it look as much like a commercial bar as we could! We found most everything at a reasonable price at equi-bid.com! The pic is from a holiday party we hosted.

Last pic shows the disco ball, in relation to the bar!! LOL!! 40" of disco ball glory, right there!

We've just recently finished the Loft, and, it's such a relief to finally relax and just enjoy the space, without having construction going on all the time.

For the record: we love to entertain! That doesn't make us alcoholics. On the contrary, we rarely drink, unless we're entertaining.

Here's ours. We love it!

It depends on your life style. we don't go out for drinks, we buy beverages and mixers and love to host so it makes sense for us to have one. right now we just store everything in the bottom of our China cabinet, but we plan on creating a specific space in our new house ( in the bonus room above the garage) for liquor storage. we'll keep wine and wine glasses in the kitchen since we do drink that more often

We added one to our back patio. We love it.

The bar in the family room of my daughter’s house is what sold the house in 48hours. My husband designed and built a beautiful solid wood bar with lots of shelving and cabinets, a brass rail, recessed dimmable lighting, frig, sink, etc. in our house the next year, all top quality. There is nothing better than sitting there with a roaring fire in the fireplace and relaxing at the end of the day. It is both for resale and enjoyment!