19 Basement Bar Ideas That You Haven’t Seen Before

If you are getting ready to build your own bar then you will find some great mancave, garage, and basement bar ideas here.

You might be wondering if you really need that bar in your basement. The answer to that question is, you do!

I never understood the need for a bar in the basement because they can take up so much space and overpower the room.

After my husband finished building our basement bar we invited some friends over for the Eagles vs. Patriots Super Bowl. (Eagles Fans here)!

The bar added a lot of extra seating in our cramped house, and gave everyone a place to gather around while they watched the game.

Even if you aren’t a big sports fan, the bar is great for entertaining during the holidays and parties because of the added seating.

You don’t need a large finished basement to add a bar either, so don’t think you need to spend several thousand dollars on this project.

We hope you find these basement bars inspiring, so you get the itch to build your own bar. Don’t worry, you need little to no woodworking to take on this project with our detailed bar plans.

Repurposed Bar – Hutch Turned into a Bar

If you have an oversized dining room hutch that you have no longer use for then this is a great way to repurpose it into a bar.

Repurposing furniture is so much because the project is basically free and it’s fun to get creative with something that you might of lugged to the curb on trash day.

If you are working with a similar type of dining hutch, remove the top portion then adjust to standard bar height.

Shiplap Bar

Our family saw our home bar and was super impressed. They wanted to build the exact same bar in their basement.

So, we helped build this basement bar using our bar plans then added shiplap instead of trim pieces on the exterior.

Using shiplap was much easier than making the cuts for all of the trim pieces as shown on our bar.

After the shiplap was adhered to the exterior of the bar, the entire bar was sanded and stained.

Butcher Block Bar

Instead of your typical dark basement bar, here is a light and bright bar with butcher block bar top.

This modern basement bar only has 1 bar top, so this could potentially save on lumber as well.

Butcher block isn’t the cheapest, but if you compare it to the price of 2 bar tops and Chicago bar rail it could be a cost savings.

Modern Bar Ideas for Basement

Adding a large bar to a cramped basement might seem like a bar idea, but it actually helps define the space.

The once tight space now feels larger because there is plenty entertaining space and seating.

Even if your basement is used for storage, you can still make a corner of the basement functional for entertaining.

Portable Bar

This portable bar cart is a great option if you do not have extra space for a large bar, but want a functional piece of furniture.

When you need extra entertaining space for the big game, simply roll this portable bar near your tv and pull up bar stools.

See more pictures of this multipurpose farmhouse style bar cart and instructions here!

Farmhouse Bar

Here is a farmhouse bar wraped in white beadboard and topped with darked stained butcher block. The dark bar top really pops against the bright white bar exterior.

Rustic Basement Bar Ideas

These are some of the home bars that were built using Rock Sold Rustic bar plans.

Many of these basement bars were built by people with very little woodworking experience.

They did such a great job with the finish work on these basement bars and adjusted the plans to fit their space.

Mancave Basement Bar Ideas

These mancave bars aren’t your average dinky sized bars, these are large sturdy bars that can entertain a large group of friends.

Turn your basement into an entertainment center with one of these mancave bar ideas.

Garage Bar Ideas

If you don’t have a basement or don’t have enough space in your home then you can build a bar in your garage.

Customers used our bar plans as a foundation to build from and make their own to fit their garage.

You can’t even tell that these bars are in a garage because they look so good!

Basement Bar Top Ideas

If you are looking for basement bar top ideas then check out this penny bar top.

Instead of a simple wood bar top, this bar is lined with pennies to the entire top of the bar.

After adding pennies onto the entire surface of the bar top, the customer poured epoxy to keep the pennies in place.

The copper colored pennies give the bar top a really neat look while brightening up the space.

Chicago Bar Rail Bar Top

Here is your traditional Irish pub bar top with birch wood as the bar top and Chicago bar rail.

You can’t go wrong with a bar top with Chicago bar rail because looks great and it is functional.

The Chicago bar rail acts as the perfect place to rest your elbows when leaning against the bar or eating at the bar.

Butcher Block Bar Top Ideas

Instead of your traditional bar top with Chicago bar rail, these are simpler bar top designs.

It could be cheaper or similar in price if you consider the the cost of butcher block compared to Chicago bar rail and other lumber needed to the top.

Chicago bar rail looks great on bars, but it does get expensive and it can be tedious to match up cuts and adhere it to the bar.

If you want an easier and cleaner bar top then you should think about going with a butcher block bar top.

Both of these bars have butcher block on the bar top. The first bar has a natural butcher block bar top and the second bar has a stained butcher block bar top.

Outdoor Bar Ideas

If you prefer to be outdoors instead of your basement then you can build an outdoor bar.

An outdoor bar allows you to host events for a larger crowd by taking advantage of the space in your backyard.

Here’s Why You Need a Basement Bar

I will admit I thought my husband was nuts for wanting to build a basement bar in our home.

It seemed like such a waste of space for something that we would never use.

He proved me wrong because we actually use our basement bar all the time.

Not only do we have parties around our basement bar, but we eat dinner at our basement bar on a Friday night after the kids are asleep.

We plop the baby monitors on the bar and enjoy a nice steak with a drink, in a space that is not overloaded with toys.

So, I highly recommend building your own modern basement bar because it makes a great use of the space.

Basement Bar Ideas Using Home Bar Plans

When we built our first bar, we wanted a large L shaped bar to seat more than 2 people.

We searched all over for easy to follow home bar plans with detailed instructions to build a bar.

We struggled to find complete instructions on how to build a bar or they seemed to complicated.

At the time we didn’t have a lot of woodworking skills, but we knew how to use power tools.

We learned a lot along the way, so much so that we started sharing our bar plans with readers.

We wanted other people to feel a home bar was something that they could build themselves.

So, we created DIY bar plans to help people with little woodworking skills make a home bar.

DIY Bar Plans – only $19.95! (Save 10% with code: BAR10).

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