It is perhaps not surprising that one of the most common projects we are asked to work on is to help create garden room bars for a wide range of homeowners.

With so many people leaving increasingly busy lives and the price of a pint in a pub increasing exponentially, the simple pleasure of having a social place to drink with friends and loved ones at home is highly desirable.

However, with so many different options available, from the simplicity of a drinks cabinet to a full garden room, which type of home bar or pub is right for you?

Ultimately, there are positive benefits as well as considerations you need to make, as well as compromises to make when it comes to budget, space and quality.

Why Should You Set Up A Garden Room Pub?

If you are committed to having an actual pub at home, rather than a living room with a drinks cabinet or a bar in your kitchen, having a separate building for it makes by far the most sense.

Design Scope

Unlike a home bar, where you are limited not only by space but also by the existing fixtures and interior design, a garden room is a clean slate where you can make the pub or bar of your dreams, regardless of type.

From replicating your favourite local and seeking inspiration from a CAMRA pub to creating something new, exciting and distinctly your own, you are in complete control of the look and features of your outdoor pub.

No Impact On Privacy 

The big issue with a home bar is that it often conflicts with the living space in a home, which means that households often have to make compromises when it comes to using it and inviting people into it.

If you want to keep a gathering or party going late, for example, you could stay in a garden room without acceptable levels of conversational noise, causing disruption to other people’s sleeping patterns.

Connection To Outdoor Seating

When the summer months come around, the social space a garden room pub offers is made much larger thanks to the easy access it has to the outdoors.

The appeal of a beer garden is clear, as it allows you to enjoy the warm weather with a cool pint whenever you like at home.

Considerations You Need To Make With An Outdoor Pub

  • Your budget will need to include not only the cost of fixtures and furniture but also the cost of the building itself.
  • The outdoor building, much like a conservatory, will need to be designed to handle hot summers and cold winters to ensure it can be used year-round.
  • You need to consider how much space you have in your garden and how it could compromise other uses of your outdoor space.
  • You will need to either get in touch with an electrician to wire the garden room to your electricity supply or purchase an additional generator.
  • Your garden room will need to meet permitted development rules.
  • As with any other outbuilding, it is essential to know how to keep it maintained, cleaned and treated so it can still be used over winter.

Should You Set Up An Indoor Home Bar?

Depending on the design and shape of your home, there are some advantages to having an indoor bar, and if you want a social drinking space that is similar to the rest of your home, you can get around one of its biggest disadvantages.

Home bars can be simpler to set up, as you can rely on your existing kitchen for chilled drinks, water, ice and storing glasses, meaning that your home bar can be as simple as a cabinet or an extra table space in your living room.

It is also easier to access, being literally within your home rather than requiring a trip outdoors into your back garden to reach your preferred tipple.

Why An Indoor Bar Is A Worse Choice

  • You will have far less space to work with, as any space you use for a home bar comes at the expense of other living space.
  • The indoor bar could be far more disruptive to other members of the household than an outdoor and naturally soundproofed garden room would be.
  • There are many more significant design restrictions due to a lack of space and the need to ensure the home bar is designed in harmony with the rest of the space.
  • It can be harder to use your outdoor space unless the room you choose has a door to the outside.