Eight Bar Cabinets: From Small Sideboards to Single Towers

If you entertain guests often at home, you certainly appreciate the virtues of a well-designed bar cabinet. It saves you time since you don’t have to set up the bar each time that you throw a party. Living in a small spaces can be challenging when it comes to finding the right furniture. I found eight bar cabinets that would fit in any small space apartment or condo.

A small sideboard is my preferred choice due to its versatile use.  You could even consider buying two small sideboards, instead of a double sideboard. Having two small sideboards provides more flexibility if you change often your furniture placement. When the sideboards are tightly side by side, most people will not notice that you have two.

The Small Sideboards

Look no further than CB2 for an affordable mini bar with one fixed cubby shelf over a removable X wine rack on one side. A drawer and two fixed shelves deliver good storage on the other side.

Swig white mini bar $399 at CB2

The Maxime Bar Cabinet (top picture, $1,499 at Crate & Barrel) holds a lot. You get a removable tray, open shelves, a barware drawer, glass racks for 30 wine glasses, and a 16-bottle wine rack. The wood top doubles in size when needed. This is my favorite one.

The compact Parker Spirits Cabinet is the cheapest option of the group. Nonetheless, it provides storage for 18 wine bottles plus several alcohol bottles and glasses. It might be the best buy!

Parker Spirits Cabinet $399 at Crate & Barrel

Singaporean designer Nathan Yong was inspired by the 1960s turntables and entertainment units when he created the Line Wine Bar for Design Within Reach. The vertical slats make it stand out. But frankly, it is my least favorite of the small sideboards. One of its advantages is plenty of room for stemware.

Line Wine Bar $3,795 at DWR

The Double Sideboards

The best DIY bar cabinet that I found was made by hacking two IKEA EXPEDIT bookcases. The total cost of this project, excluding the manpower, was $330.

Tutorial to make your own EXPEDIT bar

You can add extra space to your modern buffet with this bar hutch. This way, all your entertaining gears will be within one’s hand reach. That 16-inch tall hutch leaves you enough height to display an art print over it.

Copeland Furniture Catalina Hutch $1,271 at Inmod

The Bar Towers

If you are really short on spaces and you don’t mind not having a work surface, a tower might suit you.

More traditional in style than the others, you can custom the width of the Saxton entertaining bar by adding more pieces. This single bar tower comes in two parts: the base and the hutch.

Saxton entertaining single bar tower $989 at Pottery Barn

Style-wise, I prefer the Root Wine cabinet to the Saxton bar tower because you can display decorative pieces into the open boxes.

Root Wine Cabinet $899 at CB2

My goal with this post was to illustrate that living in a small space is no excuses for the entertainer to not have a bar/wine cabinet. You can find one that fits your room, your style and your budget.