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How to build a home bar

Entertaining at home is a great way to keep costs down and makes for a more relaxed and personal evening. Make it even more special by building your own home bar to turn your living area into a mini event space for when you’re hosting guests. The best thing is, you don’t need a lot of room, as transforming your cupboard-stored spirits into a centrepiece for your living or dining room is all about the display. Start with a standout drinks trolley then add glassware, bar tools and fun decorations, and even turn it into a cocktail creation station. Here are some DIY home bar ideas to get you started.

What you’ll need for your home bar

The basics

Choose two or three staple spirits, maybe vodka, gin, rum or tequila, based on your most-sipped drinks and favourite cocktail recipes. Then think about the mixers needed for classic combinations, such as fruit juice, tonic, soda water and ginger ale. You’ll need vermouth for martinis and negronis, and bitters for drinks such as a Manhattan and old-fashioned. Simple syrup can also be good to have on hand, as it works in a range of cocktail recipes.

The equipment

When it comes to home bar accessories ideas, wine drinkers should keep an aerator and bottle stop to hand to make sure each bottle tastes its best, and don't forget the all-important corkscrew and bottle opener. Cocktail fans can make like a pro with the necessary mixing tools. You’ll need a cocktail shaker for daiquiris and margaritas, plus a jigger and spoon for measuring your spirits and stirring martinis and Manhattans. Use a strainer for filtering out ice when pouring, and have reusable straws and colourful napkins on hand for serving.

The drinks glasses

You’ll need a mixture of glassware, including balloon gin glasses for G&Ts, tumblers for drinks on the rocks, and flutes for fizz. Plan for at least six of each type, depending on how many guests you’re having over. When it comes to cocktail glasses, think martini glasses, tall tumblers and coupes. As well as Mr Bond’s tipple of choice, the martini glass can be used for Manhattans and cosmopolitans. Tall tumblers will be used for drinks topped up with mixers, such as a Tom Collins or mojito, and bellinis will be served in flutes. Negronis sit in short, wide glasses and your coupes will be used for Champagne cocktails and those all-time favourite espresso and passionfruit martinis. Keep guests entertained with our Spinning Glass Tumblers Set. Designed to swirl and aerate your drink, they also make a great conversation starter.

The garnishes

Drink garnishes such as olives, citrus fruits, cherries and berries can add a pop of colour and flavour. Herbs and cucumber halves also work for gin mixers and cocktails, and you’ll need plenty of mint for muddling if you’re making mojitos. Go extra and include edible glitter and prosecco sprinkles to your selection of drinks accessories and add a little magic to your cocktails and wine glasses.

The aesthetic

Now comes the creative part – it's time for home bar styling. If your drinks trolley sits against the wall, prop a playful sign up on the top. If your bar will stay in one place, you could hang your sign on a nail above it. Bring in some fun wall art and some decorative placemats or napkins. You could even add a glow with a bright neon sign, or hang string lights over your drinks trolley or wind them around the legs.

If you're throwing a party and have a theme, tie your decorations into it. You could have flowers in jewel-toned bud vases, or string some garlands across the front. Hang paper pom poms on string behind your station, and bring in the fun with vibrant drinks stirrers and straws, cocktail umbrellas and colourful glass jugs filled with water, cucumber halves and blueberries.

Where to place your home bar

Choose a drinks trolley or cabinet as your focal point and keep it in the room where you do most of your entertaining – a dining room for dinner parties, or the living room for smaller, less formal gatherings. Keep your most-used – and best-looking - barware on top, placing items on a decorative tray to protect the trolley or cabinet surface. Bottles, mixers and glassware and anything useful but less aesthetic can go at the bottom or behind closed doors.

Tips and tricks

Turn your home bar into a DIY cocktail station and enjoy hands-off hosting! Keep it simple by putting out the ingredients for a couple of signature cocktails on your drinks trolley – think crowd-pleasers such as a Moscow Mule or a margarita. Arrange the printed or handwritten recipes in a photo frame next to your station.

Having a cocktail prep board handy will ensure there’s a place for slicing limes and measuring spirits without making a mess on your drinks trolley. Select a decorative board for extra style points.

Have cocktails pre-mixed in glass carafes or jugs, labelled with cardboard luggage or gift tags, so that pouring drinks is quicker. Surround with bowls of toppers and garnishes for easy decorating, as well as snacks such as olives, nuts or popcorn cones nearby to accompany your tipple.

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