8 Home Bar Styles and How to Design for Them

Home bars are the heart of any party. They bring people together, create a focal point and double as a place to keep your guests satiated.

Building one could be your next favorite home renovation if you know where to start. Consider some of the most popular home bar styles to determine how you’ll design around one of them for your household.

1. Mid-Century

A mid-century bar will make everyone feel like they’re at a professional venue without leaving the space where you’ve already made so many memories. Opt for details that create sharp lines, utilize dark wood tones and lean into bold colors.

Plush seating around your bar with metallic accents could pull your design together, especially if you have similar furniture around your house.

2. Speakeasy

You don’t need a hidden room in your home to build a speakeasy bar — all you need is a secretive vibe. Line liquor on glass shelves above a silver wet bar. You could keep dried ingredients like floral petals in a hollowed-out book on the bar counter.

Your design might also feel complete with prohibition-era motifs, like decorative barrels where everyone can imagine you’re aging homemade moonshine.

3. Classic

Classic home bar styles incorporate regal details that look like they belong in a historic mansion. Add thin-framed pictures, light colors in your decor, candlesticks and furniture that looks ornately carved.

If you want to have cabinetry around your wet bar, selecting the right style is key. Opting for modern recessed doors would take away from your theme. Raised panel doors add a layered dimension to a room. The smallest details often make the biggest differences when styling something in your home.

4. Modern

Modern home bar styles are best suited for anyone who calls themselves a minimalist. Every piece of furniture and decor in a modern-inspired room has a purpose. They feature neutral color palettes, clean lines and lots of open air to create a welcoming space.

Opt for a subtle shade of gray and a marble countertop to make your bar a modern dream. You could complete the space with white cabinets, cream furniture and a rug that adds a splash of color to the room.

5. Eccentric

People love eccentric interior design when they prefer not to stick with one defined theme. Instead, this design style incorporates a little bit of everything they love. It creates rooms with character through bright color combinations, bold prints, textured decor and more.

Build the eccentric home bar you envision with wooden counters and exposed shelving. You’ll need the open space to hold the measuring cups that measure 1- to 2-ounce shots of whatever liquor you’re serving in cocktails at your next party. While you make drinks for everyone, your guests can relax on velvet chairs among your favorite works of art, tapestry or trinkets collected at thrift stores.

6. Rustic

When people imagine a rustic home, they often picture a farmhouse. Although that’s one direction for this design style, you can also make a rustic cabin or oceanside getaway vibe. It all comes down to which kind of place makes you feel most at ease.

Combine memories of your favorite beach vacations with your home bar by making a coastal rustic space in your home. You might collect all your barware on a rolling stand made of upcycled wood. Decorate around it with coastal motifs like seashells or aquatic creatures. If your wooden accent pieces have an aged appearance, you’ll lean into the earthy, aged vibe of this design style.

7. Eclectic

You might have an eclectic style if you love holding onto items that make you happy. Collecting things may even decrease your stress levels because they give you comfort. Your home bar deserves to be a stress-free space. Channel your love of gathering things that make you happy and turn it into an eclectic home bar style.

Eclectic rooms have a layered design that turns them into visually busy spaces. Put a loud print on your walls with peel-and-stick wallpaper. Invest in a wet bar with ornate carvings and decorate it with patterned placemats, coasters or bright metallic barware. The key is making every aspect have its own character so your eyes never stop wandering the room in amazement.

8. Industrial

Your home bar could be an industrial-inspired getaway if you’ve ever dreamed of living in a loft in a big city. Industrial spaces incorporate elements like exposed brick, metal, cool neutral colors and cozy textures. Run with this theme in your home bar by choosing a bar with metallic accents, metal stools and barware in dark silver or black colors. If you add a fluffy blanket to the cream couch behind your bar, you’ll complete the space without making it feel cold.

Remember to let natural light into your bar. Sunlight inside an interior space lifts your mood by providing minor nature exposure. The yellow-tinted light will also visually warm the area, which could be the element you need to tie your design together.

Plan Your Design Choices Around a Home Bar Style

Browsing home bar styles makes creating one much easier. Think about the interior design choices you’ve already used around your house. Do you love how your home looks, or have you been itching to try something different?

Go with whatever bar style makes you happy since it should be a space where you feel most at ease by yourself or with the people you love.