Having your own garden room bar can be a wonderfully novel way to add to your home, either as a place to relax and unwind on your own, or to entertain visitors. The list of benefits to it is very lengthy, although there are one or two important caveats to consider.

What Does The Law Say About Garden Room Bars?

The first thing to consider is a certain legal matter. Like other garden rooms, constructing it should be something you can do without requiring planning permission under permitted development rights, unless your home is listed or in a conservation area.

Another legal concern is to make sure that the bar you have is just for your own use and that of guests, rather than a bar where you would actually sell alcohol. In the latter case, that would require you to be licensed in the same way as your local pub.

However, if it is just for you and your guests, serving alcohol no more requires any licence than would offering someone a beer or glass of wine when they come to your house.

With these considerations taken care of, the main issues are practical:

  • You would need the garden room to be connected to the electrical grid to refrigerate drinks and any food you keep there
  • It will also need to be kept lit in the evening, especially as the nights get shorter.
  • Insulation will be required for colder days.
  • You also need to keep it very secure, lest any burglars fancy helping themselves to the drinks and furniture.

After this, you can enjoy a wide range of benefits:

Who Gets To Visit Your Garden Bar?

Being able to have a drink in private with a friend, or as part of a romantic evening with a loved one, is not something you can do in a pub. True, you might do this at home, but here you get the atmosphere of a bar without the crowds.

Even if you do have a few people in, you won’t have to contend with the place being overly crowded or having a long queue at the bar.

Indeed, in recent times the issue of queuing at pubs has become quite contentious, with one Hackney establishment recently calling on punters to stop queuing in single file as if they were waiting to be served in a post office.

Indeed, these days, people will even get in a row about queuing to stand on a mountaintop, so being able to avoid all of that with your friends may be quite a relief.

Not only can you avoid the crowds, but you have complete control over who else is in there.

Anyone who has watched EastEnders may be familiar with the phrase “Get out of my pub,” but in this case, much as you might want to use those famous words, you shouldn’t need to throw anyone out in the first place.

This means you can enjoy a convivial drink without any risk of the atmosphere being spoiled by alcoholics, pub bores or members of the England cricket team.

What Themes Can A Garden Room Bar Have?

A further great benefit of a garden room bar is that because this is your establishment, you can design it just as you like. Everyone has been in themed pubs, which may have all kinds of character. Now it’s your chance. This could include:

  • Filling it with regalia to do with a football team or a particular sport in general
  • A Sci-fi theme
  • A nautical theme
  • A connection with a certain genre of music or film

This might take inspiration from a bar you have been to in the past, or it could be your chance to create a theme you haven’t seen anywhere else.

Another benefit is that you can decide what drinks are in stock. Ever been to a bar and found that your favourite tipple is not available? Problem solved when it’s your own.

When Can You Use The Garden Bar?

Perhaps the most liberating thing of all is that your bar can have its own opening hours. In particular, if you fancy an all-night lock-in, who is to stop you?

Of course, you will need to be considerate about your neighbours, which means that you shouldn’t be too loud when you leave and return to your house (or when your friends go home). But don’t forget, the folk next door might enjoy coming round and visiting!

Having a garden bar can be one of the most enjoyable ways to use such a space. It can be great for summer parties, as a cosy watering hole in autumn when the fireworks are going off, or as somewhere to enjoy some festive fun at Christmas or New Year.