Home Bars Tap Into Guy-Friendly Style

Gathering over a few drinks at a pub or bar to discuss thoughts and catch up on friends’ lives has long been an important part of community life. In Britain pubs have historically been integral as working-class social hangouts. However, Paul Jennings, author of The Neighborhood — A History of the English Pub, says that these spaces have actually been declining for more than a century. “motives include the ever widening array of alternative leisure pursuits, and the greater importance of the house as a place to spend some time in,” he told BBC History Magazine.

While I couldn’t agree more with Jennings about the importance of spending time with family, I’d venture to say that perhaps Jennings has forgotten how smart we ever-evolving humans can be. Pubs aren’t decreasing. We’re just bringing the concept home.

Current Concepts Home Automation

RMT Architects

The house bar has turned into one of the funniest bonus rooms in homes now. And while people alike are adapting and planning these spaces, it is common to find a masculine influence in their own designs. Rich wood, TVs, leather-backed seats, pool tables and cigar porches are popular features of this modern-day home bar.

Bespoke’s Art

Heather DeMoras

“It is the best man fantasy — have your bros, and some pretty girls too, sidle up and loosen up,” says Tina Skinner, a writer and writer who’s written over 100 lifestyle books, such as Entertainment Rooms: Home Theaters, Bars, and Game Rooms. “With the boom in square footage that drove the marketplace in the last 15 decades, there are a lot of homes with rooms to fill. Why not meet fantasies?”

Crisp Architects

This homeowner’s business takes him to London often. Every time he’s there, he stops off in his favorite bar. He loved the air so much that he re-created it in his New York country residence.

Crisp Architects

His wife had more control over the decoration in the main house, so he made this his personal endeavor. He reached out to architect Jimmy Crisp to help him realize his vision for developing a London-style bar in his basement.

There has been a very strong push to acquire an old feeling just right from the space. The contractor even dragged chains round the stained pine floor to add dents and marks.

Paint: Bittersweet Chocolate, Benjamin Moore

Crisp Architects

“He can have a celebration for 60 individuals and in the close of the night near to the door, and the house is still pristine,” Crisp says. “Everything is perfect except the bar.”

Crisp Architects

From the all-pine space using a custom bar top, the owner watches sports, plays pool, entertains a few buddies and has large parties.

“This is the man cave,” Crisp says. “The homeowner wouldn’t call it that, but that is exactly what it ends up being.”

Macaluso Designs

This is a legitimate man distance. The owner, a lifelong mentor in Las Vegas, had complete say in all that went to the space. Signed guitars, jerseys and other collectibles adorn the walls. There are multiple TVs for sports and even doors that lead out to a courtyard for cigar sessions.

Designer Michael Macaluso chose the deep wine-reddish wall colour to match the wood bar, which is alder with a medium stain, and the walnut flooring. He added an animal print and embossed leather too. “As a man designer, it was not difficult to come up with everything in this,” Macaluso states.

The designer claims when constructing a house bar, it is important to ascertain how much space you’ll actually need and use. “A pool table takes up a great deal of room,” he states. “So unless you’re planning to use it a lot, don’t get one. People need slot machines, baseball games, they then realize they have nowhere to sit.”

Macaluso estimates that a room in this way would cost approximately $100,000 for the makeup — furniture, custom cabinets, floors, comprehensive wood ceiling, custom cabinets, high TVs, sound system, wine rack.

Ike Kligerman Barkley

Bar stools: Mimi London

A retired professional baseball player transformed the two-bedroom casita on the land of his Arizona vacation home to this bar space for storing his sports collectibles.

The remaining portion of the house is done in a Venetian style, so he wanted something that was his speed. The African-chic aesthetic features bamboo walls and animal prints for a summery feel.

Knight Construction Design Inc..

The rest of this house is bright and white with pops of colour, so the owners of the space needed something darker and moodier. The husband revealed designer Kristen Peck a photograph of a bar and said, “I need the exact same feel.”

While the husband and wife agreed about the aesthetics, the husband’s preferences drove many of the selections, such as tin ceilings and knotty alder cabinetry. There is also a gas sink, a dishwasher, a microwave, and LED rope lighting, a TV and a pure quartzite flooring.

Bob Michels Construction, Inc..

Contractor Bob Michels turned a storage space above his house garage into a coveted pub with great views.

His wife had picked out the rugs and wall colours in the main house, but this space was his. The room has a pool table, in-floor heating and beautiful custom cabinets from Dura Supreme.

Princeton Design Collaborative

The designer of the New Jersey basement bar maximized a tight room, which makes room for essentials like a sink, a refrigerator and plenty of bottle storage. The ceiling is actually Fry Reglet acoustical wall panels (design B) that were fastened with stainless steel screws and trim washers.

Bar stools: Room & Board; wine rack: Wine Enthusiast

Build Cincinnati of Coldwell Banker

Lucy Call

After moving further away from downtown, where he couldn’t walk outside his door and into a bar, Ian Wade discovered that having a house bar space spurred social gatherings. He constructed this bar from old and plywood wood pallets.

Bob Michels Construction, Inc..

Peter Santrach and his wife collaborated on gutting their Minnesota basement and turning it in an amusement area. They wanted the darker look of Lyptus cabinets from Dura Supreme, and Santrach wished to integrate a Coke machine he’d had since college.

Santrach added a table for poker games along with a pool table, popcorn machine and oven. “It is definitely a man distance, but it is also a combination family room, too,” he states. “If it was my man space, it would be filled with a lot more beer mugs and maybe a trophy deer mind or ducks. Right now all I’ve got is a wooden duck.”

Santrach estimates that the bar area cost approximately $25,000 for parts, labor, counter, mirror, lighting, metal ceiling, installation, electrician, appliances and plumbing.

Michelle Fries, BeDe Design, LLC

This is a basement space in a lake cabin for a young family with four kids. The wife drove its own aesthetic. She wanted a more rustic vibe, with knotty barn wood provided and installed by local craftspeople. There is an electronic poker match on the bar top plus a fridge, popcorn maker, wine cellar and microwave.

Michelle Fries, BeDe Design, LLC

The baseboard is corrugated metal.

Michelle Fries, BeDe Design

A local metalworker designed the footrail.

Your turn: Display us your home bar!

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How to Organize Your Room for Entertaining

With the holidays right around the corner, I have been thinking about why some houses operate nicely for a celebration. It’s not the holiday-themed decoration as well as the food or beverage, because if the celebration is actually great, few remember those details.

For a designer, I’m always analyzing a space — yes, even during a celebration. (Don’t worry friends, I’m not judging, only analyzing!) A handful of items are really crucial for throwing a good party — music, light, food, beverage, and of course, excellent company — but a lot of them are secondary to great flow.

The best parties are those where there are lots of places for wandering, for hanging outside, for intimate conversations and for talking to new individuals. Your house might not be laid out for fun on a daily basis, however you can always rearrange the furniture to make it more party-friendly. And while you are at it, as it is a given that everyone always ends up in the kitchen, it’s also a good idea to search for ways to disperse the meals and pub tables to other rooms to inspire people to mingle.

More: 20 Great Serving Trays

Lisa Borgnes Giramonti

1. A feeling of entry. I totally adore this room. I imagine walking to the house and seeing this view from the front foyer. I really like that the furniture isn’t blocking me visually, with a sofa facing the fireplace or the too-typical formal layout with two sofas flanking the fireplace. The path leading down the center and the two distinct seating areas make this feel more like hotel lobby or restaurant lounge than a living area; fabulous for entertaining.

Abbott Moon

2. Intimacy. When you’ve got a large space, it is important to place the furniture in small groups to produce a feeling of intimacy. A good guideline is to not set furniture so far apart you need to lean in across the coffee table to listen to the person you’re talking to!

Alix Bragg Interior Design

3. Multiple seating areas. Furniture arrangement can be hard, however this is a superb example of how to pull a room with dual seats areas. An open console separates the two seats areas while two sisal rugs clearly specify each space. I enjoy the runner and the second rug layered on the sisal carpet in the foreground. Layering mismatched textures and furniture help the room to feel more like the pieces have been collected over time and less like a store showroom.

Catalyst Architects, LLC

4. Downplay the TV. Even if your living room or living area usually has the furniture set out for television viewing, think about moving it around for a celebration. Blow Off the TV and organize furniture for dialogue. I really like how the 2 sofas are placed back-to-back to create 2 seating areas. Most men and women believe they do not have the space for this, but give it a try; you might be surprised!

Tracery Interiors

5. Communal seating. This room includes back-to-back sofas too, but because it is a larger space, there’s also room for a sofa table between them. This space reminds me of some mountain ski lodge. It’s perfect for communal seating where everyone might not know each other, which also makes it perfect for entertaining.

Dick Clark + Associates

Back-to-back sofas with a lanky sofa table in between also functions with modern styling. This one feels like a contemporary ski lodge’s spa lounge.

Mandi Smith T Interiors

6. Circulation path. In case you don’t have the room for two seating areas with sofas, then consider setting a few armchairs at one end of the space and the sofa with extra chairs in the other. The two mismatched traditional rugs work well to tie the space together. They also create a transparent flow path from the door.

You can find so many ways to think about arranging furniture for entertaining. Throw the rules out the window and get creative. Perhaps you will find that you prefer your living area laid out this way all the time.

More: Let us Chic-ify the Game Room
20 Great Serving Trays

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The Elephant in the Room

This might be one ideabook that is stupid, but I cannot help myself. For some reason I simply love elephants, and that I understood I ‘ve a whole lot of elephant things occasionally around my home. A lots of the best designers and stores have elephant things – Jonathan Adler, John Derian, Horchow, Armour and Co. and several more all take things ranging from ceramic elephant tables to classic pictures decoupaged onto miniature trays.

Perplexed regarding why so a lot people need to really have a small elephant of our very own in our houses, I did a fast internet research and stumbled onto What Is Your Signal dotcom. In accordance with the website, Hindu believed considers that elephants bring protection and fortune. In Western cultures, elephants suggest energy, dignity, and dependability. As an image that is Chinese, elephants are symbols of well-being. No question we like having them about!

Kanner Architects – CLOSED

That is simply the most uproarious literal translation of “the elephant in the area” I Have actually noticed.

For Individuals layout

Is this small bronze man the icing with this tablescape or what?

maison21

Mama and infant add some stability to the asymmetrical space.

Seemingly only at that house, the elephant signifies “Welcome!”

This royal elephant is a good touch of gold in the chamber.

Dufner Heighes Inc

A small whimsy is introduced in to this refined toilet via an elephant planter.

Allison Cosmos

A unique mural abandon me dying to learn what else is happening in this chamber!

This can be a small Jonathan Adler elephant I was given by my mom along with his giraffe pal for Xmas.

Here is the insane deal elephant within my bedroom. I think while I slumber, he is guarding me. The security alarm and he, I trust.

Mark English Architects, AIA