If your home has a built in bar – you’re set! Otherwise, improvise!
You need 3 things from a “bar”
- A place to keep your ingredients
- A place to keep your tools
- A place to make your cocktails
A Place to keep your Ingredients
If you don’t have kids, an open bar cart will do quite nicely. Check out Pinterest for some good ideas. Most people prefer to store things in a cabinet. This can be under a counter, in an old armoire or even in an old steamer trunk. Once again, check out Pinterest. Just be sure it is either close to where you will be making drinks or can be moved to that area.
If you have kids, lock it up. Don’t just “baby proof” it. Trust me, you will not be pleased when you discover months later that the babysitter got into the fine scotch in the fancy wood box.
A Place to Keep Your Tools
This can be a drawer near the area you intend to make cocktails. It can also be a bucket. Nothing fancy here. If you’re thinking that you will be expanding into fancier concoctions, you will need additional space for extra toys.
A Place to Make Cocktails
This will ideally be near a refrigerator, an ice maker and a sink. It should also be counter height, not table or bar height.
Our “bar” is spread all over the house. My wife and I live in a beautiful home that was built for a Mormon family, (I’m serious). It has lots of bedrooms and no bar. We improvised by using an under counter cabinet between the kitchen and dining room for storage. The work area is a piece of counter top between the kitchen refrigerator/freezer and the sink. My tool tool drawer is there as well. We also put in a small refrigerator in our pantry specifically for our bar and set up a wine rack for overflow liquor bottles.
When entertaining, I ferry ingredients to my work area ahead of time or use a bar cart. I can make our guests drinks right there in the middle of the party and not off in some far corner.