Ideas for a Recreation Room Bar

Rec room bars can be simple or elaborate.

Home bars, with interesting stools and an intriguing countertop, create a new entertainment space within your home. Whether your home bar is in your recreation room, basement or family room, consider styles and motifs that fit your interests and your home decor. Regardless if you design and build an elaborate wet bar or create a small, simple dry bar, a little thought and imagination produces an intriguing, entertaining space.

Cultural Theme

Consider designing a bar based on a country, region of the world or culture that you feel connected to or have visited. Incorporate Oriental, Scottish, Scandinavian, Hawaiian, Russian, Native American or Caribbean motifs into your recreation room bar. For example, if you chose an oriental theme, make or purchase stools from bamboo, paint or stencil Chinese letters onto the surface and set Chinese warrior statues among the liquor bottles.

Era Theme

If you are attracted to a particular time, you might choose that time period for your bar design. Perhaps you like the Wild West, the Victorian era, early American history or the Art Deco (1920s and 30s) era. Pick one period for your rec room or family room bar. An Art Deco theme might reflect the time of the great ocean liners. Cover the walls with reproduction art deco posters, use shiny metal stools and tile the bar with a 1920's black and silver motif. You might even find Art Deco era glasses for serving drinks to your guests.

Drink Theme

If your favorite drink is a martini, wine or beer, design your recreation room bar around your favorite beverage. A martini-inspired bar might include only martini glasses, a wine bar would have glasses for red and white wine and a beer-inspired bar would have beer steins and mugs from around the world.

Production Theme

As you design your family room or rec room bar, consider making part of the space a production facility for making beverages. If you are making bottled beverages like wine, install extra wine racks along with space for your fermenting bucket and siphon unit. For brewing beer, plan the right amount of space for your brew pot, chiller and bottles.

References

• Rec Room Guide: Home Bar Styles
• "Entertainment Rooms: Home Theaters, Bars, and Game Rooms"; Tina Skinner; 2010
• Your Home Bar