Consider the Home Office Bar

aeykelbo I have to say... bottles don't do anything for me in terms of character or style. Even in some of the very elegant spaces shown above, displaying liquor bottles seems hopelessly "college!" I'm far more impressed by those who can make a thoughtful cocktail appear out of nowhere (i.e., no bottles in sight).

Jonathan Baker You're definitely walking a fine line when displaying any kind of booze. And the LAST thing you want (on a design front) is for something in your home to be linked to stereotypical collegiate behavior. But I was inspired by how tasteful bar set-ups were on Mad Men, and thought the idea could be adapted in the home in some capacity.

Lily Gahagan @aeykelbo: Perhaps in a decanter?

gillymcmilly Some great ideas for displaying your bar stylishly and thoughtfully, it doesn't have to be vulgar. Nothing collegey about it in my opinion. No used cans of cheap beer stacked in a leaning tower of pisa kind of way in sight and I don't know about you, but my finances didn't stretch to a lovely bottle of single malt or other 'adult', sophisticated tipples while I was a struggling student. Great post.

Becky Harris Love it! you need to add Andy Cohen's set on "Watch What Happens Live!" There seem to be more bottles added in front of that fab rainbow of encyclopedias each week!

Shannon Sadler Well, I for one, love it! I have added this to my list of "must haves" in our new home. Personally, these spaces are way too elegant and sophisticated to smell of college life.

Cyndi K. j_b~ "best of all worlds" indeed in the first photo - like the life size buddy bunny to drink with in the study. Harvey? And like your vintage window with the silhouette decal art.

becky~ I'm fascinated by how "un-done" and random Andy's set is....it's like the refrigerator magnet collection of set design.

frove The spirits are inspiring as Houzz usually is. And I agree, look at the last photo, who had that much wine in waiting, Drambuie, pocket doors, and perfect accent chair at "Animal House."

kate skouros i could never see having to dedicate space for booze -outside a single kitchen cabinet. do people really drink that much?

Jonathan Baker kateskouros1--its not about dedicating an entire space for booze (or drinking to excess), but rather having a beautiful space to hold your treasured top shelp spirits. And how this adds a classic design element to a study/library/home office.

Joshua Sidlowski Excellent. You can have a tasteful, classic bar without being in college or being an alcoholic. Maybe its because I'm younger, but I definitely don't associate nice bar setups with anything low-brow.

nwhite949 I love these! Definitely nothing collegiate about displaying booze tastefully. Who doesn't enjoy the occasional cocktail - "clients" especially. On the movies, the "client" would come in, and be offered a drink.. also this used to be customary when you would have folks over to your house.. what happened to that notion? I love it.

Andrea Collegiate is as collegiate does. I always thought it was classy to celebrate a special occasion with a treasured bottle of liquor or fine wine. Silly that these pictures of a rather exquisite bar set-up would ruffle some feathers. Great job. I can see how "Mad Men" would inspire one... been on a Mid-Century hunt since.

happycamper2168 My fiance's kitchen had an alcove adjacent to the dining room that might have been used for a kitchen "command" center if we didn't already have significant space dedicated for that elsewhere. I decided a bar would make sense and found a toddler dresser with drawers and a large cabinet that fit the space perfectly while offering generous storage for our small Manhattan apartment. Worrying that the display of booze might make us seem forever 19 - but realizing 99% of my friends are British journalists who are generally fond of a tipple or two I knew I had to make it both highly functional and very grown-up. I make no apologies for using the area to show guests what's available to them - we entertain a lot and it makes life easy. Four shelves were installed to make the vertical space useful - two are used to display our Dorothy Thorpe silver fade barware collection and the one immediately above holds my cookbooks. The last- which is too high to have be useful - houses a collection of aqua apothecary bottles. Storing these items elsewhere in our apartment would have cut us out of necessary space - and the glassware and aqua bottles create somewhat of a pretty design element. It works for us - great to see that others are embracing the home bar!

Jonathan Baker jsidlowski, nwhite949, andrea000x -- Thanks for the kudos ... and for supporting the notion that this wasn't a total bush league roundup. ; ) happycamper2168 -- brilliant setup and explanation. (And props for displaying the Dorothy Thorpe barware.)

Andrea sounds like the mad men here just need a drink:) Liquor bottles are certainly attractive and elegant...AND make a wonderful gift. My parents have a mahogany curio cabinet where they display their bohemian china and crystal... amongs them are few bottles of fine liquor I've given them over the years. They are not big drinkers, but find the bottles sophisticated enough to stand next to their precious collectibles.

lyvia Odd how the sight of liquor affects us so differently than a wine fridge for example. I have always wanted to display a crystal decanter of brandy, just as a symbol of luxury, and perhaps a tough of naughtiness. But the dust would tell ...