Our Dry Bar Nook Reveal

The final reveal of the dry bar nook is here! After months of trying to figure out how to add some color to our all-white kitchen, we finally decided to turn the space that was supposed to be a coat closet into a dry bar. And if you come to a crossroads with this decision in your future, I hope you follow in our footsteps and take the exciting entertaining route instead of a coat closet! This kitchen bar is going to be great for entertaining- whenever we’re allowed to congregate in groups again.

To set the stage, the below picture is what the floor of this area looked like pre-home renovation. The next photo is the empty nook waiting to be converted into it’s higher purpose.

First things first answering a few questions:

What is the difference between a dry bar and a wet bar?

A wet bar features some sort of built-in water/ sink feature so that your entire cocktailing area has a space to clean up. A dry bar is simply a bar without a water/ sink feature.

How much space do you need for a dry bar?

If you want to store wine, I would say have the height of your interior wall with a base at least 30″ wide. Our bottom cabinet is 30″ wide. The upper wine cabinet is 20″ with 10″ of open shelving.

How much do I need to budget for my dry bar?

I would estimate just under $750 depending on how thrifty you are. This entire project cost us $700. We bought a pre-fab cabinet from JK Cabinetry in Atlanta, bought 2 sheets of wood for the back paneling and top, 1 gallon of paint from Sherwin Willaims, purchased hardware on sale, and bought a scrap piece of marble from Inman Park Granite & Marble. Doing the work ourselves and using raw materials definitely cut down on the cost.