Before the COVID struck, many of us loved stopping at our favorite bars for a nightcap before coming home and calling it a day, or night. With the pandemic, many homeowners have taken to creating a kick-back-and-relax space in the comfort of their own homes for that much-needed drink after a long day of back to back conference calls. Enter The Home Bar. Existent even before COVID came into place, the home bar saw a surge in popularity with the need to make our living spaces, well, more livable. 

We explore a few cool home bar ideas, some of which don’t require you to hollow out a dedicated space for it. We’re local too, we get the space constraints.

Photo Credit : Pinterest 

1. Let the dead come alive.

Do you have dead space in your kitchen, maybe beside the fridge? Utilise dead space for a sneaky wine rack, or a slim shelf for your hefty liquor bottles. You can also install racks in that cupboard you built to hide the unsightly water pipe to maximise the unused space inside, or have one of those clever slide out vertical racks under the sink, or between your cabinetry we see so often in those home organisation videos.

Photo Credit : Pinterest 

2. Tropical Island

You know, technically any large surface in your kitchen would have space under it. That space means storage for your wine glasses and bottles. A prudent way to go about it would be to keep all your bar accouterments to one side of the island so you can properly use the rest of the under-island space for your cooking and baking needs. Alternatively, a hanging rack above the island makes for a delightful showcase and focal point. 

Photo Credit : Pinterest 

3. A niche for getting tipsy.

Pun intended. A recess or wall niche in which you can store all your bottles and even have a built-in wine fridge would also make for a lovely display in the room. Just remember to keep the breakables and extra fragile glassware on the higher shelves you don’t accidentally knock any over. For an extra sneaky way to keep this home bar secret, hang a large decorative scroll or tapestry over it when not in use to keep it hidden from children or guests you don’t want to be sharing your vintage stash or limited edition collections with.

Photo Credit : Pinterest 

4. Wall it up!

If you have the luxury of a child-free home, and happen to entertain often, dedicate an entire wall to displaying your favorite drinks! It doubles up aesthetically as a gallery of sorts, and eradicates the hassle of having to come up with decorative ideas for this blank canvas.

Instead of just typical shelves, you can jazz it up with whimsical patterns, or individual shelves that create interesting visual forms.

Photo Credit : Pinterest 

5. Under the stairs

Do it like Harry Potter and use the space under the stairs to create a magical world for yourself. If you have the luxury of several storeys in your home, you could have multiple “cellars” for different types of alcohol. If you live in a HDB mansionette, you can create a display under your stairs. 

Photo Credit : Pinterest 

6. Jager Bomb Shelter

Your bomb shelter is semi-soundproof, has a heavy door to keep children out, and is a completely private space for you to get wasted in. With the right design and lighting, it could be your personal after-work enclave to get your much needed R&R. Its cool, dark environment serves as a brilliant cellar to store all your wines and liquors in optimal condition too!

Photo Credit for cover image : Home Philosophy 

Posted on 23 September 2022

Racheal Sia, 

SIXiDES Editorial Team