Can I Use Old Furniture As A Home Bar?

The idea of having a home bar is a dream for many of us, and it can be a dream that is hard to bring to life. This can be for a number of reasons, the lack of space, the lack of ideas, or just how expensive it might be to build a home bar.

More often than not, we can overcome the space problem. There are many places to get good ideas, and it does not have to be expensive. In this post I will share some great ways to build your own home bar. Using old furniture and without having to be a “do it yourself” expert.

The best Home Bar Hacks

It doesn’t have to be difficult to create your own home bar. Building a bar from scratch means you can build it to your own measurements and to your own specification. I will include a section further on that will give you the insight for building a home bar. And, without it being an expensive project.

I will also include a video that shows a great IKEA hack. At IKEA you can buy suitable furniture and covert it easily to a home bar. This can be a cheap way to create the bar you want for your home.

Before that we will look at the type of furniture items that will be ideal candidates for converting into bars. The good thing about using existing furniture is that the bulk of the work is already done. Just a few tweaks and changes can result in an impressive bar.

You will not need to be a DIY expert, and because of the power of video can follow step by step instructions on screen. It will be like looking over someones shoulder and copying what they do, it’s that simple.

Convert A Bookcase

A bookcase can make a great conversion project for a home bar. Obviously they come in all shapes and sizes, but they can be easily adjusted to the measurements you will need for the space you have available.

A small book case can be turned into a simple bar cart, you can even add wheels to move it around. A medium bookcase can often be around the right height for a bar and be converted into a stand behind bar. This will already have the shelves for your glasses and drinks. Fixed to the floor and with a wider top to create the bar top and you have a bar.

A larger bookcase can stand against a wall with all the shelves utilized for glasses and drinks. Add a medium bookcase in front and you have a real bar set up.

You may well have a bookcase that you can flip into a bar. If not, look around locally for anyone selling or giving away one that will be suitable. A book case is a pretty simple piece of furniture to covert into a home bar.

Old Hutch Dresser

Just like bookcases, an old dresser is ideal to convert into a bar, they are normally quite solid pieces of furniture too. A dresser normally comes with a combination of shelves, drawers and cupboards. The cupboards are ideal for bottled drinks storage. The shelves are ideal for glasses and the drawers for bar tools.

Again, like the bookcase, a dresser comes in all shapes and sizes, so it is pretty easy to find one that will suit your situation. I have seen these come up locally, some for sale, but always cheap, but others for free. It is easier to give a large piece of furniture away, that it is to get rid of it yourself.

Just keep an eye out and it won’t be long before you come across a suitable dresser for you.

IKEA Furniture Hack

We all know that at IKEA we can buy furniture pretty cheaply. There are plenty of IKEA furniture hacks from people across the internet. I could add several videos here that will show how easy it is to convert a piece of IKEA furniture into a home bar.

I will just add one, but like I said it is an easy thing to search online. This particular video shows a simple Kallax unit being assembled. Don’t worry that’s not the end of the video. Next, a bit of extra timber is cut to size and added to the Kallax unit. This converts the simple unit into a great home bar, complete with a wine rack.

There is a little cutting of wood, but the measurements are provided. A bit of staining or painting of the new wood will be required. The fixing together of the wood with some screws and you will be ready to stock your new home bar.

A great way to achieve a home bar without breaking the bank.

Build Your Own Bar

There is still the option of building your own bar. This can be done by dismantling an old piece of furniture that in its present form would not be suitable for a bar. By dismantling it you could reuse the wood and re fix into the right shape and size to create a bar. You may have to add a little wood, but when painted it will not be noticeable that you have different ages of wood.

Alternatively, the use of old pallets is also a great way to construct a bar. These are widely available and although take a little patience to dismantle, can look great if prepared in the right way. Again there are plenty of videos to give inspiration and step by step instructions. Here is one to get you started.

One more option is to build a bar from scratch using a set of plans to achieve the result you want. This does not always have to be made from new bought wood. Look for any old wood you may have lying around. Perhaps your neighbors or friends may have wood lying around, its worth asking.

Again old furniture can be taken apart and reused, or wood from pallets.

Final Thoughts

It is surprising just what we can utilize to make a home bar. Old furniture can be more versatile than we think, some need very little work to make them into a working bar.

This shows us that it does not have to be complicated to build our own home bars. An advantage of using old furniture or pallets to create a bar is that it costs very little to achieve our dream of having our own home bar.

The amount of secondhand furniture available that can be used for this project is vast. Coupled with all the ‘how to’ information available online guides us on how to build it.

I am sure you see that you can use old furniture as a home bar, now it is up to you to get started. Share your thoughts below on your home bar projects and what furniture you are using to create it. Happy bar building.