Built-In Bar Ideas for Your Home (and What They Cost)

A built-in bar gives drinks, glasses and bottles a home of their own and keeps the kitchen clear when people come over. These are the built-in bar ideas we see most, and what they usually cost.

A dry bar has no sink. It is a run of base cabinets with a counter, glass storage above and often a wine fridge or beverage drawer. It fits in a dining room, a hallway niche or the end of a kitchen, and it needs no plumbing, which keeps the cost down.

A wet bar adds a small sink, so it needs a water line and a drain. It is the usual choice in a finished basement or a family room where people gather, and it often grows into a kitchenette with an under-counter fridge and an ice maker.

• Coffee bar. Pocket or bifold doors hide the machine; pull-outs hold mugs and pods.
• Glass-front uppers with lighting. They show off glassware and make the bar the focal point of the room.
• Open shelves on a tile or shiplap back. Lighter than full uppers in a small space.
• Bar in a basement island. Seating on one side and storage on the other.

• Bar cabinets: about $150 to $500 per linear foot installed, according to HomeAdvisor.
• Dry bar: about $1,000 to $15,000.
• Wet bar: about $2,000 to $30,000; custom wet bars typically run $10,000 to $30,000.
• Basement bar: Angi puts the average near $8,000, with extra plumbing at $300 to $1,800.

We build bars as part of our built-ins, kitchen cabinets and basement projects, in our shop in Mashpee.

Sources: HomeAdvisor, cost to build a wet bar; Angi, cost to build a bar in a basement. National figures; Cape Cod labor and material prices can run higher.