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Posts Tagged ‘Bar’

There’s nothing better for entertaining in your home than a wet bar. If you’re interior designing a family room, a basement rec room, or an outdoor patio, you might want to consider incorporating a wet bar into your design. Wet bars are even showing up in the master suites of newer luxury homes.

A wet bar can be anything from a nook with a small sink and some shelves for glasses and bottles, to a wrap-around restaurant-style bar with all the amenities of your favorite corner tavern.

Let’s start with the basics. Not all bars are wet bars. What makes a wet bar wet is a sink. At the very least, you’ll want to incorporate what’s called a “bar sink.” These are smaller than the standard sized sink you’d find in most kitchens. It’s just big enough for small tasks like rinsing out a glass, wringing out a sponge or adding a splash to a drink.

Or if your bar is larger and you’re going to be doing a lot of entertaining, you can use a larger standard kitchen sink.

The next item to add if you have room might be an ice maker. You can never have too much ice when entertaining, and running out can put a damper on the festivities.

If there’s still room for more, a mini-refrigerator is a popular and handy appliance. This can keep a supply of beer, sodas and other beverages cold. It’s also handy for keeping drink ingredients and garnishes close at hand such as martini olives, pearl onions and cocktail cherries.

A mini refrigerator, however, is not ideal for storing wine. Wine is best stored on its side and at temperatures not quite as cold as a refrigerator. Therefore, if space permits, consider adding a wine cooler. They come in a variety of sizes from under-counter models that hold from 12 to 50 bottles, to full-height coolers, the size of a standard refrigerator that hold 250 bottles or more.

The ultimate wet bar for entertaining large crowds on a frequent basis deserves its own dishwasher. Who wants to lug dirty glasses to the kitchen which may be many rooms away?

And wet bars aren’t just for indoors. Wet bars are becoming increasingly popular in outdoor patios, often in conjunction with a built-in barbecue.

One thing you should not overlook when interior designing a wet bar is lots of electrical outlets. You may be running a blender, a juicer, a hand mixer, a popcorn maker or any number of appliances so give yourself plenty of places to plug them all in.

Adding a wet bar to your home will make your home “party central” for you and your friends, and provide hours of enjoyment for you and your family.

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