Your home should feel luxurious to you, whether it's a temporary apartment or the place you plan to spend the rest of your life. You want to build a bar to create that luxury, but you're in an apartment. Maybe your landlord doesn't want you to do anything permanent, or perhaps you're low on space, so you're looking for Apartment Bar Ideas that'll work for you. See if these suggestions help.
1) Distressed Furniture
It can be hard to make something feel like it was made for you when you can't alter the space around it with shelves and other permanent fixtures, so instead of changing the whole space, try customizing a piece of furniture to act as a freestanding bar. For instance, you can create a farmhouse look by distressing furniture using these directions. Look for any old furniture that needs new life, and revitalize it to remove it from storage and create a custom bar.
2) Side Table With Wine Rack
If you're a wine drinker, you might as well buy a bar with a wine rack built in, particularly if you don't have woodworking space to build one. Since this is an apartment, you probably can't build it into the wall, so a side table with a built-in wine rack like this one from Amazon would make a good sidebar. It also has shelf space for liquor so that you can create a full bar with the exception of a beer fridge.
3) DIY Magnetic Wall-Mounted Bottle Opener
If you're old school and drink your sodas or beer without screw tops, you'll need a bottle opener at your bar. Since bottle caps have a tendency to get everywhere, it's nice to have a cap catcher with it also, so we've found a tutorial for making a bottle opener with a magnetic cap catcher. It's small, and you can mount it to the wall with a screw or two. This way, you'll have a neat and compact bar.
4) Bar Cart and Wine Rack
One issue that a lot of people have in apartments is a lack of space. If you've got limited space but still want an apartment bar, one option is to get a rolling cart that you can move into any corner or roll out of the way as needed. This bar cart from Amazon is fairly compact, and it's an ideal choice for wine drinkers who want to pull out the cart during a meal or party and then stow it the rest of the time. It has a wine rack and a place to store the wine glasses.
5) Self-Container Bartender Kit
If you have limited space or your landlord won't let you build things into your walls, you're going to want to look for things that are self-contained so that you can store them when you're not using the bar. We've found a bartender kit that contains a lot of what you should need, and it all comes together in a convenient tray that's easy to tuck away when you're not using it. This cocktail shaker and kit are ideal if you prefer mixed drinks.
6) DIY Dresser Bar
If you have an old dresser that you're not using, you probably don't have much room to store it, but you don't have to get rid of it. It can become your new bar instead. Take a look at this tutorial from My Creative Days to learn how you can convert an old dresser into a bar. You won't have to attach anything to the walls or otherwise do something permanent to the apartment, so it's renter-friendly, too!
7) Drink Fridge
Beer drinkers have unique needs when it comes to bars since you'll want something cold to drink. It's probably not practical to build a beer keg or tap system in an apartment, but you can get a mini fridge that's designed with a space for bottles. This way, you can refrigerate beer and soda in cans or bottles to create a bar with some drink for everyone in the household, young or old. Try putting this on a table so that it's at a convenient height to reach into.
8) Globe
A globe bar is a neat idea because it creates an old-fashioned and classy impression like you're serving drinks in a study from an Indiana Jones movie. If you like the idea of giving your apartment an older and classier look, a globe bar is one way to do that, and we love it for apartments because it's self-contained. This means that you don't have to do anything to install it. You can just buy it from Amazon and stick it in any corner of any room.
9) DIY Secret Compartment Corner Shelf
Secret compartments are neat things that you probably don't see often. After all, you're not going to cut a hole in the wall of a rental apartment, but you can build things with compartments. If your landlord is okay with you adding a small corner shelf, you can use this video from Ollari's to learn how to make a corner liquor shelf with a small hidden compartment for valuables. It's the last place people would suspect, and you can fill up the room's corner this way.
10) Revolving Dispenser
If you've got limited room, you might have to use a small cart or a section of an existing counter for your bar, so you'll need something distinct to mark the bar section. This revolving dispenser makes your home bar look a little bit more professional and makes it easy to get to your favorite liquors if you have a bar tucked in a corner. You can use this for a bar in a small space, and you won't need to mount anything to the wall that a landlord could object to.
11) Simple Faux Bar Table
This idea is a refreshing one for people who want something simple and fast but unique. Just take a TV tray table and a suitcase or chest and use this guide byThe Desi Wonder Woman to make it into a home bar. You won't have to do any remodeling, and it takes up little space, but you'll end up with a beautiful and functional bar with an unusual old-fashioned and adventurous look. Best yet, you can tell people you made it yourself!
12) DIY Coasters
If you've managed to create the luxury of a sit-down bar, you should have other luxuries since it's rare to find a full-sized bar in an apartment. If nothing else, you'll probably want to keep your bar nice with things like coasters. You can design homemade coasters using these directions from Love Our Real Life to create a customized experience at your home bar. This is neat because you can use your own pictures and make a completely customized space even in a rented apartment.
13) Counter With Four Stools
Bars are more common in houses than apartments because you've got more options for customization if you own the home and because houses typically have more space. If you're low on space and planning to squeeze a bar in there or replace your dining set with it, you can get a bar like this with four stools. This can replace a typical dining set so that you can drink, eat meals, and hang out there.
14) DIY LED Floating Shelf With Hidden Storage
Floating shelves are useful for apartment bars because they don't take up as much room as other shelves. If you customize them using the directions in this video, you can even add hidden compartments that you probably aren't allowed to add to the rest of the apartment. If your landlord will let you add shelves, this is a great option for your back bar shelves or something to place above your side bar. If you need to, just make it shorter to fit your space.
15) Sleek and Modern
If you like the sleek, modern look, you want a bar that reflects your style, not just an old cart or piece of furniture you had lying around. While those are great ideas for some people, you'll want to buy a bar specifically for your sleek modern apartment. We found this one from Amazon that doesn't take up too much space and has plenty of shelving. The open design gives you more shelf space while creating a look that should match your decor.
16) Ladder Shelf
Ladder shelves are a popular old-fashioned furnishing, so if you're trying to create a homey look for your apartment, you can use them to blend the bar into the rest. You don't need to drill or mount anything, so it's renter-friendly, and ladder shelves like these are ideal for the back shelves of a bar because you can store larger bottles at the bottom and smaller items on top. The tapered design means that you can fit it in a smaller space and still reach the lower shelves without having to step back to see what's on them.
17) DIY Sliding Barn Door Bar
Barn doors are beautiful for farmhouse rooms. They're a popular trend, and you can get in on it even if your landlord doesn't want you mounting new doors. If you watch this video from A Glimpse Inside, you can learn how to make a freestanding bar with barn doors. They can make a neat way to keep your liquor cabinet closed if you have kids, too, since they won't take up any space when you open them as a regular cabinet would. Since it's freestanding, you won't have to worry about whether your landlord will allow it, either.
18) Minifridge with Storage Variety
What do we mean when we say this mini fridge has storage variety? We mean that there's space for several different types of foods and drinks. Your first thought for a bar might be a drink fridge, but if you like mixed drinks, you can get a fridge like this that has places to store garnishes, as well as can storage and areas that are tall enough to store bottles of mixers. This way, you can have everything you need to mix drinks without getting a second fridge or make repeated trips to your regular fridge.
19) Bar Cart with Stools
Bar carts are good options for apartments if your landlord doesn't like the idea of building something permanent. If you have limited space, they don't take up much room, and you can even move them around for an after-dinner drink, then stow them out of the way, so they don't waste space when you're not using them. We found this bar cart from Amazon that goes a step further. It comes with stools that tuck neatly underneath it so you can have a complete sit-down bar and then put it away when you're not using it.
20) Magnetic Hangers
If your landlord doesn't want you to do any drilling, screwing, or installation that could damage the walls, you might be struggling to find ways to store things comfortably. One way to get a little extra wall storage when you can't damage the walls is to get something magnetic for storage like this strip of hangers that you can mount on the fridge. This would be good for towels or clips for any food you have at the bar, plus any cooking utensils or scrubbing pads for cleaning mixers and blenders.
21) DIY Style
You've probably prioritized style in other parts of your apartment, but if you've decided to just get a small bar cart that'll fit in your space, you might find that it's hard to find a good way to decorate that has a noticeable impact. We found a tutorial to help you out since a bar's design is almost as important as what it's serving. This is an incredible feature to have in your apartment, and you want it to look its best!
What did you decide to go with for your apartment bar? We'd love to hear if any of our ideas gave you inspiration or helped you build and stock your apartment bar. Tell us in the comments below!