First of all, are you a candidate for a home bar? If you’re not sure, look through this check list and if you answer YES to two or more of these questions you need a home bar.

• Do you enjoy a cocktails every day at 5:00?
• Do you drink high-end drinks like Martini’s, Scotch or Bourbon?
• Do you like to entertain?
• Do you have kids that are both in college?
• Do you have a limited entertainment budget?
• Do you like to have parties?
• Do you have a lot of friends with the same interests and financial concerns?
• Do you have an extra room in your home that serves no purpose?
• Is your town bar/restaurant just too far from your home?
• Are you afraid to get a DUI?

Well this list can go on and on and on. If you answered YES to just two of these, then maybe it’s time to think about turning a room or space of your home into a home bar.

About two years ago my husband and I were out one Friday night with our friends after working VERY hard that week. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, had a few pitchers of margarita’s and a good time was had by all. We had such a great time that we went out the next night too. Then the week came and went and before we knew it, the weekend was here once more so we did the same thing but at a different location. Then yet another weekend came and just he and I went out for a drink or two for happy hour. The following weekend was a birthday celebration. The weekend after that was St. Patrick’s Day so out again we went!

Holy smokes! Do you know how much money we spent in just one month? I’d rather  not say but with one kid in college and the other one right behind him, car payments, mortgage, food and the occasional shoe splurge – this was not going to fly.

I said to my husband, “You know if we saved the money that we just spend this month we could have bought a few bar stools … or could have stocked a bar nicely if we had one … or could have been on our way to a nice granite counter-top for a bar if we had one … or bought that really nice comfy gentleman’s chair for a bar if we had one.” Wait a minute! Why don’t we have a bar in our home? Do you see the kind of money that we are spending? This is stopping right here and right now.

My husband and I drink high-end liquor – no Budweiser drinkers in this house! He drinks some fancy dark beers and enjoys a Jim Beam on the rocks and I love my martinis. Do you know that ONE martini can be anywhere from $6-$10 PER DRINK? A Manhattan at Del Frisco’s was $14. That’s robbery! I enjoy about three drinks a weekend night and may indulge a bit during the week  so do the math. Add a dinner or some appetizers, gas to get there and before you now it you just dropped a major dime!

So my Interior Design self kicked in and plans were drawn up. Our social life was on hold for about 6-8 weeks and we put the petal to the metal. After MAJOR shopping for thee best price for widget ever, our bar was in the works.

We shopped local and starting building our dream bar. We went to the Waxhaw Furniture Outlet for the bar cabinets. You don’t want to know how ridiculously  inexpensive they were. You just have to have a creative eye and realize that a part of a stereo cabinet really makes a great display case for the back of a bar.

So in the room they went. This room is to the very left as you  walk into my home. Some people use it as an office or just a reading room – both those options wouldn’t work for me so the bar room it was!

So we have officially started the bar. We have the room and started getting furniture for it. Staying tuned to this multi part series of How To Build A Bar in Your Home. I have some great money-saving ideas and design tips that you need to know.