What home bar designs are trending in 2025?
Transitional Home Bar Design - Custom blue cabinetry, glass shelves atop pipe shelf brackets.
Designing a home bar has similar features to designing a kitchen - just on a smaller scale.
Home bars have gained increasing popularity since COVID hit. With more people wanting to enjoy the festive atmosphere of a bar at home, let's look at trends and important details for large and small home bars.
Dark Wood Home Bar incorporated into the dining room area.
Convenient Storage - Measure Everything! This is so important in order to choose what size shelves and drawers you want and need. Measure your liquor bottles, glasses and any small appliance you may want to store such as an ice cube maker. Don't forget to also measure decanters and artwork (such as a vase) you may display.
Custom/Semi-Custom Cabinetry - More often than not, a home bar is designed into a space in between other room features. Stock cabinets would be a hard fit. The positive side is you can get the exact look and style you want. The cabinetry will fit seamlessly into the space. And you are getting much better quality. Who wants to replace cabinets again in 5 years? We have designed bars of all styles from modern to traditional. Transitional styles seem to dominate.
Pipe shelf brackets - Whether a client wants the pipes mounted to the ceiling or wall, the industrial look is a popular choice. Pipe decor lends itself to a commercial establishment and adds an exciting ambiance. You can purchase them in various colors or have them painted with a color of your choice. Brass and black are two popular colors.
Glass Shelves - Glass has become more popular than wood this year. Glass fits into any style while wood fits mostly traditional styles.
Modern Home Bar design incorporated in an open concept living area.
5. Backsplash Designs - The sky is the limit with a bar! Since it is typically a smaller space, you can get more creative than you might in a kitchen. When choosing a pattern, be aware of where you want to mount the shelves. That is if you prefer uniformity.
6. Lighting - Recessed lighting is typically a good idea for visibility. Where it gets fun is adding artsy pendant lights, sconces or even a small chandelier. Lighting can really dress up your bar. Just like your backsplash, you can go a little wild with your decorative lights.
7. Styles - As mentioned above, choose your style upfront. Choosing modern, transitional or traditional is your first decision. Then the layers of design come into play. Do you want your bar to look like a speakeasy, an old world lounge bar or a sleek modern bistro? Industrial or traditional shelving. The lighting should also add to the mood you seek. Dark and sultry or bright and festive? We have clients seeking a brighter look and feel.
8. Smart Home Technology - .Simple additions such as smart lighting and music can enhance any home bar by changing up the mood as the night progresses. There are smart appliances such as undercounter fridges that can monitor your stash and 18" dishwashers you can turn on with an app. If you want to get fancy, you can add a smart cocktail mixer that will mix your drink to perfection and even recommend the proper glass to serve in. https://bartesian.com/products/cocktail-maker
9. Undercounter Wine/Beverage Center Fridge - Almost every bar we design includes either a wine fridge and/or beverage center. Once in a while, we get a call for a fridge/freezer drawer combo to store large ice cubes and special liquors.
Regardless of the current home bar trends, we recommend that you always choose a design you love. You need to feel good every time you look at your design and mix your favorite beverage!
Traditional Home Bar Design incorporated beneath the staircase.