Home bar build

Howdy. It's hard to call this "DIY" since I'm using a plumber and cabinet maker for the hard parts, but I'm converting a closet in my game room to a bar. Here are some pictures. The room is 30' long by 21' wide.





The current shelving and closet bar will be removed. I'll be cutting the top of the closet and raising the trim to 102" from the floor, to make it look less closet-y, and so the 96" cabinets in the back can fully open. The bar will come out from the side by the door, then L over to the left, where the opening will be. If it matters, I've already replaced the carpet with a nice wood floor, and painted the room a deep dark blue.

Unfortunately, I'm new not only to construction, but to home bars in general. I really have no idea how to best design a bar, or what I should put in there. My list so far consists of these items -- they link to the specific model I'm most considering so far.

• Kegerator, under counter (model TBD)
• Mini-fridge, under counter
• Wine fridge / chiller, under counter
• Ice maker, under counter
• Bar sink
• 19" flat panel TV, will go on a diagonal on the left.

I'll update this thread with build pics as I go on, but in the meantime, I'd love to hear ANY advice I could get. I'd imagine you get plenty of newbies in this forum asking this same question -- is there a good resource I can go to where it'll tell me common mistakes for a home bar to watch out for? Should I be adding any appliances or gadgets/gizmos other than the ones above? I'm really starting from scratch here. I've never even hooked up a keg before, it's kind of embarrassing --- I'd love to have at least 2 beers on tap, but I don't even know if I can fit two kegs in a standard kegerator.

nice canvas to start with!

Get a chest freezer if you can fit it. I went with a mini fridge with a cold box added on and it's a bit of a pain. If I did it again, I'd get a freezer and put 6 beers on tap...I have 4 now. If you start with two, you'll want more eventually.

Good luck!

Keep us posted...

One thing to watch out for is where the appliances will dump their heat. Most of them are designed to be free standing without cabinetry around them so they dump their heat to the back. If you're really going to install them under the counter properly then you need to either get units designed for under cabinets OR build a means to push the hot air out (ie computer fans).

Just to get some ideas of what's available you can check out this website: http://www.beveragefactory.com/index.shtml

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! Sorry I didn't post sooner, progress has been slow.

I'd really like to make this a built-in, undercabinet kegerator. Is anyone aware of a good option for that in stainless steel? I found one made by Summit (the SBC490BISSTB), but it's definitely pricey. Are there better options, maybe an undercabinet fridge that could be converted?

Can't wait to see the progress! Just wrapping mine up...installing the drop ceiling and she's done....almost there, only 2 1/2 years in the making. Good luck and keep posting pics. as you progress.

Nice bar Hoppopotomus, I just read through your thread! Ours are similar sizes, so definitely let me know if you have any advice from things you learned while building yours.

I took some pics this evening. Here are some shots of the game room as it currently is:







And also, here's an overhead view of my current under-cabinet plan:



I'd really, super genuinely appreciate any feedback or advice on that plan, even if it's just "looks okay to me." I'm extremely inexperienced with home bars and really have no idea what I'm doing here. I just threw that together in MS paint, and while I put some thought behind it, my 2 hours of thought is no match for most of your guys' years of experience with this. I'm looking forward to sharing progress and pictures in this thread, but to be totally honest, a big part of why I'm doing this is I'm hoping to suck some pointers from you all along the way.

Jager machine in the corner! I'd be happy with that room as is. I'll be checking this thread often!

What a great space. I assume by the cathedral ceilings that this is not a basement, so we need to know what you have to work with.

A few questions:

Are the water lines and drain already in?

Is there basement underneath this room?

What is the elevated door to the left of the closet for?

Is that a cold air return under the smaller elevated door?

With your current set up and desire to place the bar where you are thinking, you are pretty limited with the size and configuration that you can go with. Having the entrance way to the room on the right, the exterior door to the left and whatever the smaller door is above the cold air return, limits the size and configuration that you can go with. I ran into the same thing when finishing my basement...after framing for the bathroom, bedroom, etc. and with the drains already roughed into the floor, my bar area ended up smaller than I wanted, but I had to work with what I had.

If there is basement space under this room, then the skys the limit with such a large room. You could build a larger 2 sided L-shaped bar or 3 sided U-shaped bar on the complete opposite side of the room and not have to worry about where you are going to cram everything in. On the other hand...if this room is on a slab and your only options for plumbing are on the closet side of the room, then you have to work with what you have.

I do have a few suggestions for you current configuration. You have an 18" deep bar top figured in your design....correct? A typical bar top is 20" to 30" in depth, so you may want to go a little wider with that. I personally prefer closer to 30". Also you figured 36" of space behind the bar, which is a little tight, bearing in mind that you are placing your refrigerators against the back wall. I have about the same amount of space behind my bar, but I didn't have a choice. It's a little tight and I wish I had another foot or two of depth to move around, especially when getting things like my margarita maker out of a lower cabinet behind the bar.

With the size of the room, another 12" in width to the bar top would be really nice and another 12"-18" of depth space behind the bar would be well worth it.....and it would only eat up a couple of feet more of floor space, which isn't a huge deal based on the volume of space in the room. My two cents.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Looks like a fun project! I would reconsider the tv placement, maybe behind the bar in the center...that way you/guests can watch games, etc while shooting pool and not just at the bar. I'll second a wider bar as well, if only to keep drinks from being accidentally knocked off!

Also....I believe the Summit line of refrigerators, ice makers, etc. require 5" of air space on the sides and back of the units for ventilation and cooling purposes. You don't have the dimensions listed on your sketch up for the closet space that you are building in, but make sure there is proper ventilation space, so the units don't overheat.

Do you have enough total closet width to allow for proper spacing for ventilation of the chosen units?

What is the depth of the closet space?

The Summit units that you have selected are 23.5" to 24" in depth and require 5 inches in the rear for ventilation, so you need close to 30" of total depth for the closet in your configuration for them to fit. Is the closet 30" deep....it doesn't appear to be that deep, but pictures can be deceiving.

Just a few things to consider before you order everything and "break ground" on the project. Let me know some measurements. I've gotta run....several patients are waiting. Damn you HBT for getting me behind in my schedule....Again!

WOW -- lots of great advice, thank you! Answers are below:


Jager machine in the corner!
I like it! I had thought of a margarita machine, but forgot the other liquor. I'll be sure there's room.

Is there basement underneath this room?
The entire room is over a garage. Turns out there are no basements in south Texas, that was an unwelcome surprise I found when I moved here.

What is the elevated door to the left of the closet for? Is that a cold air return under the smaller elevated door?
It's an AC unit, and yes, that's a cold air return.

Are the water lines and drain already in?
Not yet, but I have a plumber coming out soon. There's no plumbing source nearby, so for cost reasons I'm only running cold water + drain, tapped from an outside hose bib. The lines and drain will run through the A/C unit closet.

You have an 18" deep bar top figured in your design....correct? A typical bar top is 20" to 30" in depth, so you may want to go a little wider with that. I personally prefer closer to 30"
Good advice, thanks! Actually, Hoppo, I based that 18" on your bar pictures, because I was guessing your tiles were 12". I'll increase the size to at least 24". Space is actually at a bit of a premium, because I want to cram a 21' shuffleboard table into this room eventually too.

Also you figured 36" of space behind the bar, which is a little tight, bearing in mind that you are placing your refrigerators against the back wall. I have about the same amount of space behind my bar, but I didn't have a choice. It's a little tight and I wish I had another foot or two of depth to move around, especially when getting things like my margarita maker out of a lower cabinet behind the bar.
Good to know, thanks -- my wife and I were debating about using 30" last night. I'll bump that up half a foot to 42". I'd do more but I really want to keep this pretty tight.

I would reconsider the tv placement, maybe behind the bar in the center...that way you/guests can watch games, etc while shooting pool and not just at the bar.
I'll revisit that. My concern was the bartender would be in the way if it's in the center, but I'm sure he'd move around. One good thing though is I'll have a large flat panel hanging on the opposite wall, and that'll be the primary TV for most of the game room. You can see the wall plates for it in the last picture, above the poker table.

I believe the Summit line of refrigerators, ice makers, etc. require 5" of air space on the sides and back of the units for ventilation and cooling purposes
Eep, I'll check with the cabinet maker about that. These were all built-ins and the visible ventilation is at the front, but I'll be sure I'm getting the right stuff.

What is the depth of the closet space? The Summit units that you have selected are 23.5" to 24" in depth and require 5 inches in the rear for ventilation, so you need close to 30" of total depth for the closet in your configuration for them to fit.
It's 27" from the back wall to the protrusions on the sides, and those protrusions are 6", so 33" total from back wall to open air. Hopefully I'll be okay there.

What about a carnival style popcorn popper?

Sorry....never even looked to see that you were from Texas, where basements are rare. Kind of hard to dig through rock. Yeah, it looks like that area of the room is your best option with your plumbing limitations. My bar top is 34" at it's widest where it butts up to the wall and at it's narrowest point is 26". Obviously with it being a redwood slab with raw edges, the width is variable along it's course. The front overhange of the bar for the most part overhangs as far as the foot rest, except on the very end. The back overhang of the bar beyond the framing is around 10", so it's a little deceiving. It's bigger than it appears in the pics.

I looked into the FF511LBI refrigerator a while back and it required a 5" ventilation space on the front and sides (just peeked at the manual again to double check and that's what it says).....not sure about the rest of the Summit appliances though. I would assume similar clearances, since they all require a compressor for cooling?

The 36" behind the bar is a little tight, but works for me. It was just a suggestion with your appliances being behind the bar for door swing clearances. 42" should work for you though. I just wish I had another ft. of space when opening the lower cabinets, but it's not a huge deal.

FYI: My brother bought us the top of the line Margaritaville Margarita maker and it is really nice. There is a cheaper version that sells for a couple of hundred dollars (our neighbors have that one), but their higher end model does a much better and consistent job with shaving the ice, blending, etc. I don't drink sweet, fruity drinks, but my wife and several of our neighbors love this thing for making slush based drinks. Jagermeister dispenser sounds like trouble to me!

Sounds like you have the rest handled, so good luck. Can't wait to see the progress. What kind of materials are you using for the cabinets and the bar top?

Any progress Drzy? Looking forward to seeing this room come together. Update some pics. when you get a chance!

Going to stay tuned to this. What part of SA town are you located at Drzy?

Hoppopotomus said:

Any progress Drzy?

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No real progress yet. Plumbing has been added, but the cabinetry has been put on the backburner until some other home projects are completed. I'll definitely revive the thread when that happens.

D_Ranged_Eskimo said:

Going to stay tuned to this. What part of SA town are you located at Drzy?

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Hey SA'er! I'm on Scenic Loop Road, just north of Grey Forest.

Drzy said:

Hey SA'er! I'm on Scenic Loop Road, just north of Grey Forest.

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Alright, I'm over off of 281/Overlook Pkwy. If you need any help, let me know. I work for beer!

Game room looks sweet. game room / bar is going to look even cooler