Bar counter for the kitchen with their own hands: interesting ideas, options, drawings and recommendations

A classic bar counter is a narrow and rather high barrier table located in a drinking establishment. It is convenient to rely on standing people or those who sit on special chairs. Thanks to convenience and practicality, these designs have imperceptibly and gradually entered the life of many people, finding their place often in kitchens.

Designers use a large number of different techniques and techniques to design bar counters for the kitchen. Do it yourself, these designs are not every home master can. However, inspired by the ideas of professionals and armed with instructions, you can create a simple and functional rack of wood, chipboard or other available material.

What are the bar counters and what do they serve

If there is enough space in the room, this design will serve for its intended purpose: near it will be people with drinks and snacks. Many say that the bar for the kitchen (with their own hands it is made according to a pre-prepared project) is indispensable for breakfast and snacks with coffee.

Specificity of such racks in their equipment: here you can not do without holders for glasses, wine glasses and various glasses, shelves for juices, bindings for bottles and other similar elements.

A classical bar counter for the kitchen (you can make it yourself only if you have special tools) to have several variants of supports:

• Wall.
• Lateral edge of kitchen furniture.
• A stand-alone element (island).

Bar counters for small rooms

Based on the size of the kitchen and the location of the headset, designers offer racks that differ in appearance, size and type of attachment.

For small kitchens, bar counters are rarely designed. This is due to the limited space and the lack of the need for such an element. However, at the request of the customer, the kitchen can still be equipped with a rack, which is turned into a dining table or used as a separator for the zones. The latter option is especially relevant for studio apartments and small-sized gostinok. In those cases where a bar counter is made for the kitchen with their own hands, it is often fastened along the wall. This option does not apply to the standard, but it is practical.

How to install racks in large and medium kitchens

To equip a medium-sized kitchen, resort to the installation of a bar-peninsula. That is, the end of this element is adjacent to another piece of furniture, most often, to the table top. Since the height of the rack differs from the dimensions of the workplace, reliable fasteners are needed. For this purpose, straight or inclined pipes are used, and a bar counter for the kitchen rests on them (furniture dimensions and ergonomic principles are shown in the figure).

The basic standards are developed based on the proportions of the human body. To accommodate bar counters in spacious kitchens, any option is suitable. Even the installation of a detached island will not "steal" a much-needed workspace. Also, there is no need to reduce the decorative elements: the posts can have different ledges, cornices, volumetric drawers and boxes.

Sometimes the masters resort to the installation of a special partition of plasterboard, to which the bar counter for the kitchen is then attached. Variants of modeling are endless, because there is a possibility of combining this material with metal, wood, plastic or even glass.

Functionality and practicality is the main principle

Still, most often the bar is used to separate the kitchen area from the residential or from the corridor (although combined). Since studios and pubs are small apartments, their owners tend to maximize the use of available space. Masters collect information on how to make a bar in the kitchen with their own hands, design it and make it by themselves.

The raw materials are the materials bought in the building store or what was found in the workshop (wood, plywood, brick, drywall or chipboard).

In order to make the rack practical and convenient, there are several methods:

• Installation under it shelves, cabinets, lockers.
• Placement of various fastenings over the rack: on the pipe-holders or under the ceiling.
• Raising the table top. That is the installation of a two-level rack.

Standard bar sizes

Norms for the construction of bar counters do not exist. There are approximate sizes, which are rather recommendatory. Thus, the height of the bar can be from 1.1 to 1.2 meters. It will be very convenient for a person to use it, but in order to sit down, you will have to use a special bar stool.

The width of the rack should not be less than 30 cm. This is due to common sense: if the table top is already, it will be difficult to put plates on it, and it will be problematic to lean.

It is believed that the width of 50-60 cm is optimal and convenient. In this case, you get a really practical bar counter at home in the kitchen (assembled or ordered in the salon by your own hands).

For convenience, the lockers under the countertop can be equipped with a backlight. Usually it is mounted using LED lamps or ribbons. This option is extremely economical: LEDs consume little energy, practically do not heat up and serve very long.

Base options for racks

Classical is the base in the form of a metal pipe that passes through the countertop and rests against one edge to the floor, and the second to the ceiling. Experts recommend choosing pipes from German or Polish manufacturers. Externally, Chinese bases may look just like more expensive ones, but very soon their coating will peel off. In the table top make a hole for the pipe and thread the future stand on the support. On the underside, attach the attachment-stop, which is called the "fixing ring", and from the front part all this is masked by a decorative patch.

To fix the pipe on the floor and ceiling, use universal fasteners and "thrust". Various shelves and holders are placed on the pipe prior to installation.

In the event that the bar counter is located along the wall, for its fixation use decorative brackets. To make the structure really solid and reliable, they are placed quite close to each other.

How the rack is attached to the wall

The second side of the bar can lean against a table, locker or be attached to a wall. In the latter case, the master will have to take care of buying reliable corners. They are normal and reinforced (if the worktop is made of natural wood or a high load is planned on the surface). The color can be selected, focusing on the rest of the furniture or on the walls. A bar counter for a small kitchen, made with your own hands, often rests on one corner, and wider and heavier models - on several.

Bar counter above the table top

Sometimes the rack is placed above the working surface of the kitchen. For such fastening there are special chamfered pipes. They are screwed to the table top and to the back of the rack, and the joints are masked with decorative rings.

This arrangement allows you to maximize the productive use of the kitchen space, opening access to all its corners.

Drywall: to be or not to be?

In modern apartments quite a lot of elements are made from plasterboard. Of course, this material can not be equated to the strength of a tree, but plus it is that it is very convenient to work with it.

Plates of drywall are mounted on pre-prepared frames. This method is indispensable if it is necessary to erect a false wall, a partition to separate one zone from another, to build a cornice for lighting on the ceiling, to equip a niche and in a mass of other cases.

Of course, drywall will be useful and the master who wants to create a bar on his own. He will need a framework for the frame (metal corners, profile, wooden slats or bars), tools for working with these materials, fasteners, plasterboard itself, as well as putty, paint or other decorative means.

Assembly of a plasterboard cabinet for a bar rack

Before proceeding with the installation of the cabinet, it is necessary to draw a future design. This stage is necessary, otherwise you can face a lack of material, a violation of dimensions and proportions. Thanks to even the simplest sketch the master will have a symmetrical and strong bar counter for the kitchen. Drawings can be developed using paper, pencil and ruler or use a special 3D-program.

When assembling the frame, the most important condition is the verticality and horizontal alignment of the planes. This is helped by a good level and a plumb line. The finished structure is plastered with plasterboard, the corners and traces of the fasteners are shpaklyuyut and decorated. Sometimes a primer is applied before the paint coat.

At the last stage, fix the selected countertop.

The second life of wooden pallets

Today, many apartment owners try to equip their housing with furniture made from environmentally friendly and natural materials. Of course, not everyone can afford to buy a set of wood arrays, but almost everyone likes the idea of making a bar of recyclables.

Often, the masters accumulate various remains and trimmed beams, unnecessary pallets and boxes. Fantasy, ingenuity and patience will lead to the fact that an original and functional bar counter will be installed by hand in the kitchen. How to do? Ideas do not differ in complexity: it is enough just to fill the prepared boards and boards on a strong frame.

Variants of wooden racks

Depending on the master's project and his ability to handle wood, the bar counter can look like an elementary long barrier or become a modern and irreplaceable element of the kitchen.

In the first case, the main task is to create a strong framework. For this purpose, fit all the same metal corners, wide beams and details from chipboard. On top of this construction lay the countertop (wood, chipboard, plastic).

In the case where the master wishes to experiment with the drawings, he can supply the bar stand with a cabinet, drawers, shelves, additional fasteners and holders. By the way, LED lighting is very appropriate for such products. She gives them charm and comfort.

If everything turned out well with the basic design, do not stop there. A bar counter for the kitchen, made by your own hands, can be supplemented with chairs and benches in the same style. In addition, almost any piece of furniture can become a field for creativity: hanging shelves, chests of drawers, chests for things, pedestals for flower pots and much more.