It’s the celebrations of the holiday season — from huge family dinners to glittery parties and even the good-natured rivalries of bowl games — that make it the most memorable and fun time of year. Of course, with all the entertaining comes great food and drinks. Yet, when you don’t have a built-in bar, the dilemma is how to make drinks readily accessible to your guests. This year, transform your gathering into a special event with a fabulous make shift home bar.
What makes a home bar such a chic and easy way to entertain is its adaptability. In fact, virtually any flat surface can be revamped into a bar. Taking just a little ingenuity, designing your home bar from unexpected items adds to its cachet and to the overall holiday atmosphere. Bearing this in mind, here are our top five home bar ideas and basement bar ideas for holiday cheer:
A Console Table
Long and sleek, a console table works as a great home bar. Placed against a wall, a console becomes an elegant showcase for an array of crystal glasses along with beautiful decanters filled with various spirits for a fancy affair. Alternatively, an ice bucket in a holiday theme, partnered with glasses in seasonal colors and myriad bottles of hard and soft drinks, make a casual and inviting holiday presentation atop the table. Either way, a few evergreen branches interspersed throughout the table items are all the ornamentation you need to complete a wonderful bar table.
A Bookcase
A bookcase in any style makes a creative home bar. With each shelf available for individual use, it serves as a handy and highly organized bar space. Arranging glasses, drinks and garnishes on separate shelves, leave the bottom shelf open for an ice bucket and for mixing drinks. A string of holiday lights, rimming each shelf and outlining the bookcase, add to the holiday appeal of this winsome home bar.
A Rolling Island
Sure, islands are usually for kitchens. However, select one in a more diminutive size, with casters underneath, and you have an instant bar table. Not only does the surface of the island provide a wide expanse for all your bar items, but the cabinets below may well accommodate a small refrigerator while drawers contain needed silverware, napkins and other bar accoutrement. A long garland down the middle or along the counter’s edge give it that holiday aura.
A Counter-Height Table
With the popularity of counter-height tables accompanied by bar stools, you might well have a set in your kitchen. Now is the time to give it a dual purpose as a bar table. Tucked into a corner of a room, a counter-height table is at a comfortable level for self-service and is spacious enough to accommodate all of your bar items without taking up much space. Embellish it for the holidays with simple votive candles in holders dusted with glitter.
A Bar Cart
Sometimes the tried and true methods are the best. A case in point is the bar cart. Designed specifically for serving as a bar, this cart offers the best of many of the other options: the separate shelving of a bookcase, the mobility of a rolling island and the space-saving qualities of a counter-height table. Load it with everything your guests will enjoy and tuck ornaments between the items for holiday cheer.
Design your own home bar this year with these five home bar ideas and basement bar ideas. Then enjoy the festivities as much as your guests.