If you dream of making your garden shed into a space that is an escape from your day to day hustle and bustle, consider converting your garden shed into a bar. Whether you are a home micro-brewer who wants to share your craft with friends and neighbors, or you just want an outdoor social hangout, a backyard bar can easily accomplish either. With a few glasses, some bottles of liquor, a few juice mixers, a kegerator, and a freezer for ice, you can have a great backyard bar setup made from your pre-existing garden shed.

Cleaning Out Your Shed

If you want to make your garden shed into a bar, the first thing you will want to do is clean out the gardening tools and fertilizer. A thorough sweeping and dusting will most likely be required. A coat of paint will also step up the transition process. Be sure to get out any sign of chemical residue and rectify any bug infestation, as these are not something that you want to interfere with your bar, once it’s open.

If you don’t have enclosed walls (the two by fours are showing) you can either leave them open, or sheet rock the walls for a finished look. Either can look nice, depending on the theme you have in mind for your bar.

Design Your Bar

Depending on the size of your shed, you need to decide if you want your bar to have an inside setup, where your friends can go in the shed to socialize, or if it will be a step-up bar from the outside.

If you choose outside, you will want to consider where you will have your bar top and how you want to construct the walk-up window. The easiest solution may be to cut out a section of a side wall, and replace it using hinges to flip-up, like shown in the picture.  Then install a bar top, made from anything from plywood to a small piece of countertop, and you are nearly done.

Depending on the setup you want, adding some shelving, for glasses and bottles, will be beneficial.

If you decide that you want to have a sink in your bar, you will need to make sure that it is plumbed; this may require getting permits and hiring a plumber. This may also be required if you are a home brewer and want to install multiple beer taps; this would make sense should a kegerator not suffice.

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of plumbing, you can always use disposable cups, so that there are minimal dishes to bring into the house for washing, at the end of the night.

For those who desire an inside bar, figure out where you want to build your bar, leaving adequate room behind or on the side for shelves, and at least three feet of space from counter to counter for the bartenders work area.

Add a few bar stools for your guest, maybe a dart board, and a television, and you have yourself a sweet backyard bar. You may need to have electricity run to your bar, if it is not already equipped.

Finishing Touches

No bar would be complete without a little music and some cocktail or beer memorabilia. Bluetooth speakers are great for blasting the tunes from your phone’s song playlist, if you don’t want to install a stereo system in your bar.

Some lighting would be a great addition inside the bar, so that you can see what you are making. Your guests will also appreciate nice lighting outside the bar, while socializing.

As time goes by, you will no doubt find ways to improve your bar, but these simple steps will help you get started.

A backyard bar can be practical and completely realistic. If you have a garden shed that is just serving as a storage catch all, you can easily convert it to a bar in one short weekend.

But what if you don’t have a shed at all? These days that is not a problem. Don’t let that stop you from having a cool outside bar. Anyone can build a shed in a week or less very easily using a shed building guide online. For example this 16x24 shed plan from 3DSHEDPLANS is perfect for a cozy, but roomy bar.

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