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Garden bar ideas: Recreate the holiday vibe in your own backyard with easy DIYs and more inspiration to build your own outdoor bar.

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The best and most creative garden bar ideas have the potential to turn your average backyard into the perfect space for entertaining – even if it is just your own family, and the dog.

Spending time outdoors is a bliss and a proven stress-buster also, so what better way to enjoy the warmer months than with a beer or a freshly mixed piña colada in hand as you sit out in your own outdoor space? Whether you want to DIY an outdoor bar or if you're looking for a small space solution that's quick to put together and easy on the budget, we've got all the options to make your outdoor setup a dream.

We spoke with Marianne Shillingford, UK-basd Creative Director at woodcare brand Cuprinol (opens in new tab) about why it's prime time to get outdoors after a tough year and how to make it even more enjoyable by upgrading your space with all the latest garden ideas and more outdoor living inspiration, 'It’s time to get outside and give our outdoor spaces a much needed refresh. Try creating your own colourful outdoor bar and cooking area so you don’t have to keep heading away from the fun and back into the kitchen when the food and drink run low.'

Danetti's (opens in new tab) Designer Francesca Birch further adds how 'Creating an outdoor bar area is the perfect way of entertaining in style within the comfort and intimate setting of your own garden. Your bar should be a practical and relaxed zone that allows you to host barbecues for family and friends with ease.'

Rustic, stylish and just what you need to mix up a few cocktails on a Friday night, small backyard dwellers, include a swing door for easy storage and of course, to hide all the evidence of having had one too many... We've included the full DIY for this garden bar idea below so keep scrolling.

Birch adds, 'When configuring your bar area, consider shelf space so you can stock drinks and keep glasses and crockery to hand. Hidden storage is also great for hiding away those less glamorous looking essentials such as your gas canister or coal, and having hooks on the side of your bar is useful for your utensils and tea towels.'

For an authentic outdoor bar experience, make sure yours has space to pull a couple of bar stools up. This setup gets points for all the modern vibes too.

Making your own entertainment space means you can spice it up however you'd like. Go for a dark forest green paint for cool vibes all around and be sure to add a little lighting as Birch suggests further, 'If you want your guests to feel transported to somewhere tropical, consider adding elements of fun to your bar such as fairy lights – this will add to the ambience as the sun sets on those summer evenings!'

Add a little sophistication that's still fun to your outdoor bar by choosing neutral colors and a slick design. The rattan painted chairs make this area a little cozy but also super glam so that your cosmo-drinking experience will be on point.

Be a little more adventurous and take your garden bar ideas to the lawn. Pop up a canopy like this gorgeous fringed one, add a small table, lay down your favorite outdoor rug, soft furnishings, and grab the wine of course for a picture perfect set up. Especially if you have a pup like this one handy. 

If you've got a tiki style garden bar but want to make your setup a little more chic and sophisticated, think about the backdrop and play around with colors to find the best look. We like the white patterned screens, giving us all the summer vibes, especially with those cacti.

Wine? What wine? There's no wine hiding underneath my breakfast table... Subtle, chic, useful and stylish in this pebble finish, choose a wine rack as cute as this and you will never be too far from the best wine bar again.

Having your garden bar station on the end of your workspace sure makes for easy entertaining. Steak? Check. Wine? One moment please.

Easy to manoeuvre and simple to beautify even the smallest of outdoor spaces, we love garden bar ideas on wheels as much as the next person and so will totally be taking it inside when it's cold!

Noreen home bar – £219.99 on Wayfair (opens in new tab)

The gorgeous Noreen home bar (opens in new tab) is super chic and will make a great addition to a contemporary deck or patio. Made from powder coated steel and featuring an aluminium top, it can be moved around easily thanks to the castor wheels at the back. It looks great on its own too, even without any drinks. And we'll be bringing it indoors in winter for helping out at dinner parties (assuming we can hold them by then).

Honolulu bar – £575 on John Lewis & Partners (opens in new tab)

If there's one home bar on this list this Real Homes team member is unable to resist, it's this one. A gorgeous replica of a palm leaf beach bar, The Honolulu Bar (opens in new tab) from John Lewis will conjure up memories of sunny holidays, while providing spacious two tiers of storage, in case you're also making an al fresco lunch to go with the drinks. Oh, and it also works as a parasol. All round winner. 

Reclaimed pallet garden bar – £86 on Etsy (opens in new tab)

Maybe what you actually really feel like is a trip to your (currently shut) local? Create an intimate makeshift pub in even the smallest garden with this ingenious wall mounted garden bar (opens in new tab) made from a pallet. It won't take up too much room, can be personalised, and it's eco-friendly. Perfect. 

Moreton Potting Bench – £280 from Garden Trading (opens in new tab)

Not sure you want a full-time bar in your garden? It's easy to use the Moreton Potting Bench (opens in new tab) from Garden Trending as a home bar whenever you feel like it, and then use it as it's intended the rest of the time. It's certainly smart enough to be used as a bar, but it's also very functional, with pull-out drawers and a galvanised steel metal top. And, who doesn't want to propagate plants with a G&T in hand?

Timber is a resilient and sustainable wood which makes the perfect material to use if you want to build your own home bar. Pick up what you need from Wickes (opens in new tab) .

A little more luxury, but hey let's dream. What's an outdoor bar without a wine fridge? Exactly. So if you're treating your household to a full blown cooking space, make sure you go for all the finer details.

Proof that you can beautify any of the best kitchen trolleys and more to turn it into a veritable mini garden bar, you just need to get creative. Think of a color scheme, and don't skimp on the detail for a punchy (see what we did there?) look to your easy DIY outdoor bar.

If you want to build your own outdoor bar, it will set you back about £400/ $550 for the decking boards, cladding, any paint and so on, not to mention it will cost you about half a day of labour if you are experienced in DIY that is! This will save you cash if you want a sturdy outdoor bar that will last for a good few years as retailer ones are more pricey.

If you're on a budget then look to DIY your garden bar with some of our thrifty inspiration above.

The experts at Cuprinol recommend you need the following to build/DIY your own garden bar:

Treated, rough-sawn timber cutting lengths:

90cm lengths of 150mm x 22m x6

60cm lengths 150mm x 22mm x2

55.6cm length 150mm x 22mm x3

55.6cm lengths of 47mm x 22mm x3

Camille is Deputy Editor of Realhomes.com and joined in January 2020. Her love of interior design stemmed from a childhood spent dreaming up weird and wonderful ways to renovate her grandma’s house in France – a greenhouse roof was involved – and it was spending time around very good-looking house plants and in a hardworking kitchen garden that gave her a green thumb. When Camille isn’t sipping coffee and/or writing, she is seeking out cool new Facebook Marketplace finds or tapping into her other creative outlets: painting and clay throwing. She currently rents in North London with her French cat and two others, and hopes to one day renovate the most sustainable house of dreams, somewhere marvellously sunny with a wild, lavish garden and chickens, of course.

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