The Home Bar

When we moved to Albuquerque after a brief time in Texas when Camille was three, Alethea was one, and Brittany was not yet even a thought, we had a hard time finding a house that matched our wish list.  NOT included on that list was a home bar.  We do like to entertain and we do like to serve drinks, however the house we finally chose had an enormous wood bar, with bar sink behind it.  Really, really, ugly.  Of course, the plan was to rip that sucker right out.  However,  financial reality reared its head and we realized we could not afford to replace the carpet that was added after the bar was installed so there it sat like Jabba the Hut for several more years.  Blessedly, there are no photos in existence but it looked something like this...

Screaming.."LOOK AT ME, I'M A BAR!"

We did store our wedding crystal and the bottles of liquor I had inherited from my Pop-Pop in it.   Thirty years later, after moving it four times, I finally threw out the bottle of Vermouth which we had never opened.  Pop-Pop's bar had been housed in this beautiful sideboard that now has pride of place in my daughter's dining room.

Image via The Vintique Object

I have been interested in the design world's recent fascination with home bars. 

Oprah.com, House Beautiful, Better Homes and Gardens, Sunset Magazine, Lonny Magazine, and Architectural Digest, just to name a few, have all had articles about creating or stocking a home bar.  Perhaps it is a result of the highly popular TV series, Mad Men, with its "oh so elegant cocktail parties."   Or perhaps it is because folks are not eating out so often and entertaining more at home in this challenging economy. 

My favorite bars tend to be the more restrained ones that feature a few bottles on a tray or in a basket...perfect for smaller homes or apartments.

Photo via Lonny Magazine

If you plan to have a large party and need more room, you could go with a bar cart...

Image via Restoration Hardware

Image Via Elle Decor

Image via Restoration Hardware

Image via Ballard Designs

Or if you are lucky enough to own a butler's tray, you might set it up a as mini bar which I have done a few times.  Although, honestly, I held my breath that no one would bump into it after imbibing from its stock.

Over the years, our bar has had in home in many different places, depending on the houses in which we lived.  Sometimes it was in the antique secretary (given to me by my Mom) in the spacious dining room in Placitas...

Sometimes in this sideboard in the tiny dining room when we lived in a house in Santa Fe...

But in our current home we have hidden away the bar in the great room island.  Roll out drawers make it easy to reach the back bottles, and it holds everything we need including the fancy wine opener.  Discreet, accessible, just what I like.

DOOR THAT CLOSE AWAY THE LIQUOR CABINET

BOTTOM SHELF WITH THE HEAVY STUFF.

Top Shelf with a few Waterford glasses and that wonderful wine bottle opener which never leaves a piece of crumbled cork behind...THANK YOU, SARA AND THOMAS!

So I am wondering what you might prefer?  
1.  Alcohol of any kind would never cross your threshold?
2.  A cooler on the back porch for the beer?
3.  A wine rack is all you would need?
4.  A tray with a small assortment of Whiskeys, tequilas, and maybe a bottle of 
     vodka suits you just fine?
5. You secretly pine for a full bar with stools, a refrigerator to cool the keg 
    which is, of course, permanently on tap, a built in wine refrigerator, and 
    maybe a bartender on staff as well?