I was hanging out at my local watering hole over the weekend and was reminded of all the customers I’ve worked with over the years that made their own bars in their homes. My uncle has a full bar in his basement complete with mixers, sodas on a gun, an ice maker, and such a variety of alcohol it would make the local manager at the liquor store jealous. His home came with the bar already, so he didn’t get to build it himself. Had he built the bar himself, I could have helped him out with so much of the hardware. You’ll find much of what you need for your bar project below.
Foot Rails
Traditional bar design regularly adds polished brass or stainless steel foot rails for accent and comfort. The tubing is supplied in 1-1/2″ or 2″ outside diameters. Our unlacquered polished brass tubing is sold in 2 foot increments. Stainless steel tubing, polished, or satin finish is sold in 12 foot lengths. Both products can be cut to any size to match design and lessen the shipping fees. Custom interior splices go inside the tubing to join sections together. With careful bracket positioning, you can conceal the seams if necessary.
In addition to tubing, you’ll also need components. The combination brackets are very popular, as they attach to the bar front and rest on the floor, providing extra stability. Corners at 90 or 45 degrees are available in ball style or flush style. When the tubing ends at a wall, it can be secured with flanges. Decorative end caps or finials may be substituted to complete the project on tubing runs that do not meet another surface. Mounting hardware and TEK screws are provided to aid with the installation. The factory recommends using epoxy or silicon adhesive for final attachment of end caps or finials to avoid fasteners.
Countertop Lift
Depending on how you’re building your bar, you may need a spot where you’ll lift up part of the bar to be able to pass through it. We carry a lift assist damper, made by Sugatsune, to both help lift the bar or countertop and soft close it back down. Sugatsune makes this item with or without a stop so you can have it stop at 95 degrees or fold over 180 degrees. The mechanism will work on material 9/16″ to 1″ thick. It can also go up to 1-9/16″ with an optional spacer.
Purse Hooks
Something you’ll see in many bars will be ceiling hooks mounted under the bar, used to hang purses or backpacks. I see these in just about every bar I go to. I’ve also seen them on bar height tables.
Bar Lighting
We have a large selection of lighting for your bar. I like the flexible strip lighting that is self-adhesive and can sit on curves. This allows the lights to wrap around corners, and it looks neat just under the lip on the bar, providing a down light on the front. We also have stick and puck lights for the bottle and drinkware displays.
Stemware Racks
No bar would be complete without a place to hold the wine and martini glasses. We have stemware racks in wood or metal to match the rest of your decor.
When you are ready to start the project, come visit hardwarehut.com so we can fix you up with everything you need.
