If you think that having a minibar inside your home is something out of your league – or paycheck – then you are completely wrong. A personal minibar is far from being a sign of wealth. Instead, it is something that shows your guests that you enjoy your liquor like a gentleman.
Therefore, if you do not have a mini bar inside your home, then it’s about time you built one – even though you are a light or casual drinker. Think of a home bar like that one feature that will have your guests talking and impressed!
Without any further ado, here’s everything that you need to know when building a minibar for your home!
Bar Anatomy
There are around ten things that your bar must have in order for it to be a proper bar. You can choose your own design, material, location, and so on – but you have to respect the following bar basics:
- The standard height of a bar is 42 inches. If you stick to it, you’ll have an easier time finding bar stools.
- The bar’s overhand should be roughly 8 inches or more.
- When it comes to bar stools, they should be around 30 inches tall, ideal for the standard bar height mentioned above.
- The bar top is usually 16 to 20 inches wide – this includes the molding.
- Speaking of bar molding, you should have one mainly because it can keep spilled drinks from flowing off the bar, ensures a comfortable armrest, and it also makes your bar look really cool.
- The drink rail is optional for your home bar. Here is where drinks usually get poured.
- A drip lip is meant to keep the spills on the bar top.
- As for the counter, a lower one is ideal for slicing lemons, setting bottles, or even installing a bar sink. However, such a feature takes a lot of space and is quite complex as well.
- In order to accommodate every type of person, go with 30 inches of bar stool spacing per seat.
- Don’t forget the foot rail – this element should be roughly 7 to 9 inches off the floor.
When building a minibar for their home, a lot of people forget about the things that make a bar a bar, so to speak. For instance, roughly two in ten hand-made home bars will have a drip lip or molding.
Other Essential Elements
However, there are more things that people forget about bars. For example – ice! One too many times we’ve seen proud owners of home mini bars heading to the fridge in order to grab ice for their drinks.
A solution for that is very easy to find. Namely, an undercounter ice maker that will ensure ice for every single one of your drinks.
On top of that, some also forget to decorate the top of their bar and make it homier. A clean bar top is not that interesting – add memories or, even better, books about cocktails and fine wines.
The Bottom Line
We didn’t talk about the drinks and tools you need in a mini bar mainly because if you plan on building one, then you most likely already know what type of drink mixers you are going to buy.
Moreover, you could also ask a professional bar builder for a bit of help or for a couple of tips and tricks that can help you build a better bar for your home. Overall, you could build one just the way you want it as long as you don’t skip the essentials!
