Suddenly a lot of garden bars are popping up in neighbourhoods, allowing us to pretend we were going out for a couple of hours, and giving us another reason to have guests over for a fun time.
So, why haven’t you done it yet? If you’re thinking about it, you’re in luck. We’ve got a guide to building your own garden bar, featuring water resistant laminate flooring, all the hottest accessories and outlines for building it yourself. Read our guide to know more.
Unleash your inner carpenter
The starting point of building a bar starts with how much you are willing to commit to. There is nothing stopping you from popping into a supermarket and grabbing one of those cute bar trollies, loading it up with bottles from the aisle that doesn’t open until 10am, and keeping it as part of the décor of the house.
But if you’re looking to make the most of the sun and the good weather, you’re going to want to go all the way and put together a bar in the garden. This can be as simple as making a larger shed that looks better and is watertight. So, it will take a little more expertise than building a shed, since a little rain on your bikes and tools isn’t the worst thing.
And, unlike a shed, you’ll want some light to get into it, so you might consider some glass doors, which might also help with keeping things watertight.
Plus, unlike a shed, a bar is going to need, well, a bar. Putting together a bar in your garden is like taking elements from different projects and putting them all together. In this case, you’re essentially making a shed with a kitchen breakfast bar or island in it.
You can find guides on how to build your own bar online, that will offer you blueprints from the ground up, which you can customize as you wish. As for the counter, you can have fun making that or even order one from a DIY store to take the hardest work out of it.
Make sure things are watertight
Unlike a shed, you’re going to want to spend time in this space, with consumables stored in it no less, so the less moisture, creepy crawlies, and general deterioration the bar suffers, the better.
Consider insulation, as it’s something you will need to think about from the beginning. Keeping your bar insulated will regulate the heat, allowing humidity and condensation somewhere to go. You can use bubble wrap, rockwool, PIR insulation boards, or wool in between the panelling.
And don’t forget about the floors. You can look into waterproof laminate floors here to make sure that a barefoot experience is an option in your comfy bar, and that no water will make its way into the bar. Plus, any spills from the keg can be cleaned up quickly without bubbling the wood on the laminate.
Plus, once everything is built, you’re going to want to fill it with loads of stuff, some of which might need a power source. You won’t want any water getting to your fridge, your lighting, or your stereo, etc. Like the insulation, that is an element that is best thought of from the beginning.
Now for the fun part
Once you’ve got things built, you’re going to want to fill it up. If you’re not looking to put power in the bar, you can get yourself a cooler in place of a fridge, but you’ll need something to keep your drinks nice and cold in the hot sun.
You might want to think of a theme before you go any further. There are lots of options out there. You might want to go for a Tiki bar with a thatched roof and coconuts for cups, or an American sports bar, with football flags, a TV screen and a keg. Or maybe you want to keep things simple and comfortable. You can add squishy chairs or a fire pit on your deck for a relaxing place you can read in when there are no guests around. The possibilities are endless.
