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abart

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Iowa
So I moved into my “new” house two weeks ago and need ideas for my bar in the downstairs. I have a little start you’ll see in the pictures. I have an old school arcade coming soon and tractor seat barstools but I need more ideas for the walls or whatever. Anyone have a cool set up to help me out?
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Jeep grill for the wall. You could even hook up the lights to work with a little ingenuity. Add some turn signals like a CJ too. That would be pretty sweet.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5337789113&icep_item=113846695476
Also needs hanging light over the bar.
I like the Jeep grill idea for sure. I thought the same thing about a hanging light over the bar and I would love an old Budweiser light but the one I want it hard to find and kind of pricey.
 
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Nice room but I’d put your bar in the corner and put a small sofa in front of the tv and fireplace. You need to pick a theme of some sort. Cars, Jeeps, outdoors, sports, hunting, etc, whats your hobby or line of work? Mancave or family room? So many decisions, have fun.
 
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Nice room but I’d put your bar in the corner and put a small sofa in front of the tv and fireplace. You need to pick a theme of some sort. Cars, Jeeps, outdoors, sports, hunting, etc, whats your hobby or line of work? Mancave or family room? So many decisions, have fun.

It will be outdoors/sports/automotive/small town bar type of thing if that makes sense. Leaning more towards small town bar feel. There is a big room next to the bar that has a sofa, chair and big TV so my bar won't won't get those.
 
The three things I'd change about the layout are
1. move piano under the TV. The piano will still be used as a drink & snack holder, and be removed from the pool playing area.
2. rotate bar 90* with barback facing the wall. people at the bar can watch the fireplace, TV, or pool play
3. install TV on full motion mount so it can be adjusted for the pool players, or bar flies.

Consider adding a long bench the wall with window egress and pool table. The bench would have three functions- seating, storage, and a step to access the egress window. Then I'd probably move the round high table over where the piano currently sits.
 
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Putting your bar with the back to the wall would allow mirrors, shelving and open liquor storage on the wall. Do the woodwork in a similar style as your bar. Your ‘bar’ also needs a name. Name it after a place that you hang/hung out. When I worked at Ocean City, Md i visited the Purple Moose Saloon as it was next door to the hotel where I worked. They had a purple moose head over the bar of course.
 
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I loooove basement bar/entertainment kinda stuff, so apologies in advance if this is long-winded:

Move the bar over so it's not blocking the fireplace. You could probably find a better spot for the popcorn machine, too. It's kinda hidden back there.

If you can find another bar table like the one you've already got, move them between the bar and the pool table. In the location where the table is now, snap up a couple billiard spectator chairs.

I'd move the pool cue rack to the wall that the TV is on, mounted between the two doors (and sitting maybe a little lower). It works as an "accent" for the room. Don't hide it where it is.

If you're really looking to go old school bar, I would almost ditch the piano in favor of a juke box. I'm ceaselessly amazed by the shit people sell on Facebook Marketplace. You can find some great stuff in there for cheap because a lot of people have no idea what they have.

As far as the walls go, have you considered wainscot and a chair rail? Try to find a stain or color that compliments the brown doors and trim. Painting the top half of the room some kind of dark green would look bad ass, IMO.

Oh — and hide those TV wires in the wall. Actually, it looks like you could probably ditch that small bookshelf entirely. Look into mounting the receiver onto something like this behind the TV. I used one for my DVR Tuner and it works great!
 
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I loooove basement bar/entertainment kinda stuff, so apologies in advance if this is long-winded:

Move the bar over so it's not blocking the fireplace. You could probably find a better spot for the popcorn machine, too. It's kinda hidden back there.

If you can find another bar table like the one you've already got, move them between the bar and the pool table. In the location where the table is now, snap up a couple billiard spectator chairs.

I'd move the pool cue rack to the wall that the TV is on, mounted between the two doors (and sitting maybe a little lower). It works as an "accent" for the room. Don't hide it where it is.

If you're really looking to go old school bar, I would almost ditch the piano in favor of a juke box. I'm ceaselessly amazed by the shit people sell on Facebook Marketplace. You can find some great stuff in there for cheap because a lot of people have no idea what they have.

As far as the walls go, have you considered wainscot and a chair rail? Try to find a stain or color that compliments the brown doors and trim. Painting the top half of the room some kind of dark green would look bad ass, IMO.

Oh — and hide those TV wires in the wall. :)
Yes! Those wires are going to be hid but I was in a hurry to get the TV up and haven't had a chance to get them cleaned up. Still deciding on an audio system to run in there so that could change a bunch of stuff. The piano is actually going to be donated to the city, painted and used as a "street piano" and I have an 80s style stand up arcade game on its way in a few weeks. Still deciding on the bar and I might just build a new one of the winter. Thank you for the insight!
 
Still deciding on an audio system to run in there so that could change a bunch of stuff.

What are you thinking?

I have an 80s style stand up arcade game on its way in a few weeks.

Oooh! Which one? I was considering some cabinets from this company once my basement is finally finished (planning a bad-ass game room). I haven't seen one yet, but I hear they're pretty small. That's kind of a bummer.
 
What are you thinking?



Oooh! Which one? I was considering some cabinets from this company once my basement is finally finished (planning a bad-ass game room). I haven't seen one yet, but I hear they're pretty small. That's kind of a bummer.
Not sure on the audio yet. The bar’s acoustics are shit so I need to figure that out then go from there. A friend of mine is really good at that stuff so I will have him guide me a bit but nothing over the top. Good and loud and sharp sound.
I am getting a full-size arcade cabinet with sixty 80s style games like Donkey Kong, Galaga and Frogger. I’m getting it from a place called Own your Own Arcade Game that I really liked. Should be here in a few weeks. 🕺
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