This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NeverTooHungover #CollectiveBias Messaging below is intended for ages 21+ and is intended to be enjoyed responsibly, in moderation.
What are you looking forward to this weekend? One of my favorites things to do is to hang out with girlfriends and chat over cocktails. Sometimes we head out for an evening on the town, and other times we stay home and create our own cocktails. Moscow Mules, Lemondrop Martinis, and Salty Dogs are some of my favorites when I’m doing the mixing.
Girls nights are always a blast. But I’m a single mom to an active 10-year-old and a business owner so there’s no time for me to be hungover the next day. Work to do, house to maintain, baseball practices or tournaments to attend…no down time allowed. I was recently introduced to Never Too Hungover Prevention and Never Too Hungover Boost. What an awesome idea. It’s the perfect solution for having a night of fun with no worries about the next day. Perfect to help prevent or recover from a hangover.
Never Too Hungover rehydrates, neutralizes toxins and restores vital nutrients which helps to prevent or recover from a hangover. It comes in two varieties – Never Too Hungover Prevention has a great limeade taste and Never Too Hungover Boost has a great berry taste. Never Too Hungover Boost can even be used for an energy boost and who doesn’t need that at times??
As my collection of spirits grows and I host friends more often for an evening of cocktails, I wanted to create a home bar. But where?? My dining room is quite full with my large dining table and china cabinet. Besides, we never actually hang out in the dining room except for sit-down holiday dinners. I’ve drooled over those gorgeous bar carts on Pinterest but decided to see what I could create with what I already had.
Home Bar DIY
Step 1: Find a space to set up your home bar. Dining room, living room, kitchen – be creative and you don’t need much space. In my house, I had a small unused wall between my kitchen/family room and living room/dining room.
Step 2: Select a piece of furniture for your bar. This could be a small table, cart or bookcase. Look around your house to repurpose. Or take a quick to a thrift store.
I had this small table I was planning on getting rid of. Too small for my house as a kitchen or dining room table. But the right size for a bar and fit in my space perfectly. I had found the table at a thrift store several years ago for $30, painted it black and used it at my shop – no longer having my store, the table was sitting in my garage.
A cart or a bookcase is great because you can also use it store barware. I already had a cabinet full of barware that is near my new home bar so this wasn’t a concern for me.
Step 3: Select a large tray or platter to use for your collection of spirits. If you’re using a cart, you can skip this step. If it’s not the right color, or needs some love, spray paint works great. I found a large tray that was black with zebra print – no longer my style and was in my donate pile. I used a black placemat to cover the zebra print bottom and its perfect.
Step 4: Add a sign. I love the look of art that is a single word or quote. BAR and CHEERS both work great. There’s also some great quotes that would work for a home bar. I already had a 3D CHEERS decoration and decided to make my own BAR sign. To make the sign, I found an extra piece of wood in the garage and stained it with gel stain (love this stuff!). Then I made a BAR stencil with my Silhouette vinyl cutter and painted the letters in white. After removing the stencil and the paint had dried, I used sandpaper for a rustic look. So happy with how it turned out.
Step 5: Add decorations. My new space needed something large above the bar, especially because my table is a bit low. But right in the middle of the wall is my thermostat – why, why are those always placed in the worst locations?? My solution – a shelf so I can prop the art against the wall but move if I need to access the thermostat.
An ice bucket, cocktail shaker, or jar or cocktail tools are great decorations and useful for the space. I have several cocktail books which I added to the table next to the tray.
I also wanted to add some decor that wasn’t alcohol related and that would tie in with the decor of my home. I decided a vase (milk glass vase found at a thrift store) with some burlap flowers was perfect.
Step 6: Stock the bar. Everyone has their favorite spirits so pick what you like along with a few classics. It’s always good to have vodka, tequila, gin, rum, scotch whiskey, bourbon whiskey, perhaps a few varieties of each. And a few key spirits for your favorite cocktails. I also like to have a few bottles of bitters.
I love a great BEFORE and AFTER – what do you think? I just LOVE it! and what’s awesome is I made use of space that was just ignored before.
If you’re in Texas, the Never Too Hungover Road Show is happening in Dallas and Houston area Sam’s Clubs. This is a limited time only road show, so don’t miss it!
- Dallas: October 27-30, November 3-6, November 10-13
- Houston: October 27-30, November 3-6
