How to Install a Bar in Your Home

A home bar is a fantastic addition to your garage, basement or backyard. It will become the centerpiece of your parties and draw envious attention from neighbors who wish they had one. However, before you can reap the social benefits, you must get through the installation process. Follow this step-by-step guide to complete a successful home bar installation.

1. Determine the Bar’s Location

First, you need to settle on your home bar’s location. Evaluate your house’s layout and determine which room makes the most sense. Each of these areas has something to offer:

• Living room: Your home bar will get the most attention in the living room and give people the sense that you have frequent social events. You can also repurpose furniture more easily in the living room.

• Garage: The garage gives you some privacy and allows you to invite guests over for drinks without entering the house. Garages are also great sound insulators, so you can get a little rowdy without bothering your neighbors.

• Basement: The basement is the go-to place for home bars because you have an entire floor to yourself. If you have an unfinished basement, you have a blank slate and complete design freedom.

• Shed: A he-shed or she-shed bar also provides extra privacy. If the structure is too small, you can simply add an outdoor seating area to free up space.

• Patio: A patio bar will give you an excuse to spend more time outdoors, and you can make seasonal adjustments to change its appearance and resistance to the elements.

Since you’re doing a DIY project, choose the room with the easiest installation process. You can’t afford to get too greedy or ambitious. Keep it simple and stay within your level of expertise.

2. Settle on a Theme

Once you establish the location, you must identify a theme that matches the rest of the room. For example, a classic sports bar is a natural choice if your current basement or man cave has an athletic theme. A tiki bar would be fitting if you live in a tropical region. Draw inspiration from your environment and see where your imagination takes you.

3. Develop Your Bar’s Blueprint

Draw up the first blueprint while experimenting with design ideas. Most home bars have default measurements of 6-8 feet long, 42 inches tall and 24 inches wide. The barstools should be at least 30 inches tall for comfortable seating. These simple specs will make your DIY installation much easier.

A bar can take many shapes depending on the home, but the most popular and straightforward designs are straight, horseshoe and L-shaped layouts. Outline each shape on the floor to determine the most practical. Keep these factors in mind as you develop the blueprint:

• Ceiling height

• Electrical outlets

• Cable TV hookups

• Wi-Fi availability 

• Access to water lines

• Proximity to windows, staircases and other rooms

After accounting for these big-picture elements, you can start thinking about your bar’s foot rail, draft beer system, ice machine and glassware. Pints, mugs and chalices are your best options because they’re appropriate for various drinks compared to other glasses. Make sure you cover all the bar’s details before gathering the tools and materials.

4. Gather the Tools and Materials

Start gathering your materials by calculating how much plywood you need to complete your home bar. Always buy extra in case you make an error. You must also acquire marble or another hard surface for your bar’s countertop. Your installation will require these tools, at minimum:

• 2-foot level

• Table saw

• Miter saw

• Bar clamps

• 60-inch tape measure

• Carpenter pencil

• ¼-inch impact driver

• 3-inch outdoor screws

• 1-inch finish nails

Next, get the foot rail, sink, refrigeration units and other essential large-scale items. Take care of the necessary materials and tools before buying the decorations and other accessories. You don’t want your workspace to get too cluttered. 

5. Start the Installation

Here’s where the dirty work begins. You should only take on this project by yourself if you have proper training in carpentry and electrical work. Otherwise, you should leave the project to a professional contractor. In either case, the building process should follow these steps:

• Install the necessary plumbing or electrical utilities.

• Construct the bar’s framework.

• Add the countertop.

• Install the front panel and shelves.

• Attach the stiles to the front panel.

• Assemble the side walls.

• Cut and fit the bar’s molding.

• Add the brackets and foot rail.

• Stain and paint the bar to meet your preferences.

Installation will take at least two eight-hour work days, meaning you could complete the project over one weekend if you play your cards right.

6. Add the Finishing Touches

With the dirty work complete, you can unleash your creative side and add the finishing touches. Pick out some bar stools that match your color scheme and put up decorations that support your chosen theme. Install a draft system with your favorite beers. Make sure you include these bartending essentials:

• Coasters

• Napkins

• Straws

• Garnish trays

• Glass racks

• Bar mats

Finally, stock the bar with booze and enjoy the finished product. Call your friends over to celebrate and show off the newest addition to your home!

Use Your Home Bar Responsibly

A home bar might be a major upgrade to your hangout area, but it can lead to more frequent temptations to drink. A great home bar comes with great responsibility. Use it wisely, keep it clean and try not to get too crazy. You put a lot of hard work into this project, so do your best to make it last.

How to Prepare Your Home for a Party

Hosting a party can put a lot of pressure on the host. Whatever event you’re hosting, you want it to be perfect in all aspects. And let’s face it - there are quite some aspects to consider. In this article, we will focus on how to prepare your home for a party. Besides that, if you’re throwing a larger party or you want to host it someplace else, you can also find a suitable venue. Anyway, to get back to our topic. Preparing your home for a party consists of several phases: there is pre-party preparation, right-before-the-party preparation and post-party clean-up. 

As far as pre-party preparation is concerned, you should start with getting rid of unnecessary clutter and cleaning your home. Along the way, you should consider in what ways you can get more space for your guests. Right before the party, you should set up food, drinks and other party necessities. Finally, you can consider adding some eye-catching details such as candles, flowers, balloons or other decorations.

1. Get rid of clutter

Every once in a while, we should go through our home and get rid of any unnecessary clutter. Even though you might be putting all things right away, perhaps some members of your family aren’t. So, there are always some extra things we don’t really need that take up a lot of space. Start by scanning each room and consider getting rid of any item that is broken, dysfunctional or that you don’t use. You can throw some things out, that is beyond repair, or you can donate things to somebody who needs them. Along the way, you can put things in their place, if they are somewhere they shouldn’t be. 

2. Clean your home

After you’ve got rid of all the clutter and put everything in its place, you can move on to cleaning your home. Start with dusting and vacuuming. Remember to dust walls first and then other surfaces. Wipe the surfaces around your home. Also, clean the windows as well. When you have vacuumed your home, you can mop the floors. Add some air fresheners all around your home to make it smell nice. Pay special attention to the rooms you will be entertaining. Also, don’t forget to quickly go through the bathroom as well. 

3. Make more space

We usually don’t have too much free space in our homes. So, when hosting parties, we often need to clear out some space and make additional. This is essential as it gives your guests the freedom to move around freely and not feel overcrowded. Consider what furniture you can move and where and what arrangements you can make to suit your party needs. Also, this is a must if you’re planning to include some additional things in your party, such as a photo booth. Recently, people all over Australia and Europe have gone crazy for these, opting for a photo booth hire in Sydney, London and Madrid to be the main element of their social gathering. It is a fun activity you can add to your party - it will make it even more amusing and memorable.

4. Set up food and drinks

When you have finished all the necessary pre-party preparations, it’s probably time for the party already. Before you start getting ready, you should set up food and drinks. You’ve probably already decided where you will place everything. So, just go ahead and start arranging the food. This is if you’re serving a buffet. If you’re serving dinner at a table, then you just need to set the table up. Pay attention to the table and all the details such as the centrepiece, glasses and napkins. As for the drinks, every party needs some exotic cocktails. Set up a bar, with different kinds of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Put up some easy cocktail recipes your guests can mix on their own. Remember to add some garnishes, straws and umbrellas. 

5. Consider adding some eye-catching details

Finally, one more thing before the party: final touches. Final touches can be candles, special lightings such as string lights, flowers, balloons, banners or any other thing that’s suitable for your party. If it’s a thematic party, remember to stay within the theme regarding all aspects. 

Hosting a party is always fun. It doesn’t have to be daunting and tedious if you start on time and organise yourself well. This is the key to a successful, stress-free home party.

6 Tips to Organize a Party in Your Home

Throwing a party in your own home gives you the ease of being able to clean and prepare well ahead of time, and lets you really show off your hosting skills. It can be a bit of work to pull it all together for one special day, but in the end it’s all worth it to have the good company of friends and family together under your roof. We’ve got some great tips to help you organize a successful party in your home that will definitely impress your friends!

Start Planning Early

When organizing for a party in your home, it helps to start thinking about details as much as three to six months ahead of time. Will there be a theme to your party? What is your budget? How many people do you plan to invite? What kind of decorations will you want? Will your party be casual and call for disposable plates, cups, and utensils? Or, will you want to elevate your party to a more classy level with rented glassware, plates, and tables? Setting these types of details will give you goals that can be slowly achieved, instead of making a stressful time of last minute organizing. Leading up to the party, you can keep your eye out for decorations and accessories in stores you go to that might fit with your party theme. 

Declutter & Clean 

When you have guests at your home, you want them to be impressed with the level of cleanliness, your stylish home decor, and the effort you’ve put into organizing for the party. Start with the basics by making sure your home is free from pests, clutter, and is cleaned from top to bottom. It may be best to clean your home within the week before the party, so everything stays clean. That means dusting, vacuuming, mopping floors, washing rugs, cleaning kitchen appliances, and making the bathrooms sparkle. A few air fresheners here and there never hurt either!

Pre-Prep Food

One big part of planning is determining what you’ll be offering for food. Choosing catering is always a good idea, because it takes a load of work off your plate. However, you could also go with offering just appetizers and finger foods, request your friends to each bring a dish potluck style, or buy and make all the food yourself. If you go with the latter route, it’s best to purchase all the food several days out from the party date to ensure everything is fresh. On the day before the party, you’ll want to pre-prep as much food as possible. For example, get your appetizer trays ready to whip out on the day of the party. Peel, chop, and dice any fruits and veggies ahead of time. Prep or marinate your meats the night before so they’re ready to cook. You could also ask a few friends to come over early the day of your party to help you prep food and complete any last minute decorating.  

Stock Drinks for Everyone

Everybody loves a good party with adult beverages on hand. When creating your guest list, think about what everyone likes to drink and try to accommodate the majority. You may want to have some beer, seltzers, wine, and cocktails available. And don’t forget about the guests who don’t drink or who will be designated drivers. Have a variety of non-alcoholic beverages like soda, ice tea, lemonade, plenty of water, and maybe even some non-alcoholic beer.

Organize the Music Playlist

When you're mingling with friends and enjoying the hard work you’ve put into your party, the last thing you want to be messing with constantly is the music. Either create a music playlist on an MP3 player, or choose the perfect station on a music app like Pandora. If you don’t already have a subscription to a music app that cuts out commercials, a free trial that will give you hours of uninterrupted music is a house party essential.   

Plan for Some Simple Entertainment 

While hanging out with friends, eating, and drinking is often a good time by itself, a few games and a little entertainment can really add to the fun. Some entertainment ideas for an outdoor house party might include cornhole, horseshoes, and Kan Jam. Indoor activities that are fun for a group are giant jenga, card games, darts, twister, and drinking games. Many drinking games are super simple and don’t require many accessories to play. Think beer pong, flip cup, never have I ever, and most likely, to name a few. 

Don’t forget to send your invites out at least a month ahead of time, so your guests have plenty of time to plan to attend. Set an RSVP date as well, so you will know how much food and supplies you’ll need for the party. Yes, every party takes money and lots of effort, but when you see everyone having a good time together, the work all becomes worth it. Good luck in throwing a killer house party!

How To Create the Perfect Entertaining Space in Your Home

There’s nothing quite like gathering with your closest friends and family. Whether you’re a seasoned host or just getting into an exciting routine of parties and dinners, great entertaining comes with the perfect entertaining space. No matter where you gather, make it a welcoming place with these ideas for how to create the perfect entertaining space in your home.

Focus On What You Love Most

As fun as it is to give your entire a home a makeover, that isn’t always practical. Instead, try to focus on the areas that you use most when you have guests over. Do you enjoy outdoor parties? Give some love to your yard and patio. Do you usually have people over for game or movie nights? Pay attention to the living room. Are dinner parties where it’s at? You guessed it—focus your efforts on the dining room. Focus on what you and your guests love the most so you can cater your plans toward the areas that will get the most use.

Be Function-Forward

Fashion is a big part of home design, but when it comes to hosting, you should think about function first. Do you have seating for everyone? Is there space for your guests to move and talk comfortably? These should be priorities when designing your entertaining space. You should also consider other rooms of the house. Consider how guests move throughout your home—from the entryway, to your main gathering space, to the bathroom, and more. Making sure all of these areas are comfortable, accessible, and presentable is a crucial part of how to create the perfect entertaining space in your home.

Find the Perfect Focal Point for Your Space

When we gather, we tend to gather around something: the TV, the dining table, and so on. One of the simplest ways to improve your entertaining game is to make that something spectacular. In the dining room, you can choose the perfect dining table to host all your memorable dinner parties. Alternatively, upgrade your living room with a luxurious TV stand and sectional combination. If you and your guests spend a lot of time outside, improve your landscaping with a warm and cozy firepit, a gorgeous garden, or other beautiful focal points.