26 Bar Shelf Ideas To Upgrade Your Home bar

A home bar is a perfect place to enjoy your favorite drink in the comfort of your home house. And we’ve rounded up the coolest bar shelf ideas to help take your home bar to the next level! From dark and moody basement bars to open and airy wet bars, your space can take on a personality of its own!

If you followed along with our home bar build, you know it’s become one of our favorite rooms in the house. That’s because a home bar is a fantastic place to host guests in an intimate and fun environment. Having drinks and snacks with friends in our bar feels like we’re out on the town, without the expensive bill at the end!

Whether you plan on adding a floating wood or industrial pipe shelf, designing your home bar is one of the most fun parts of the build process (besides enjoying a drink in the completed project)!

Check out the image gallery below for bar shelf ideas and inspiration for designing your home bar.

1. Dark and Moody with Black Metal Bar Shelves

This dark and moody bar takes the cocktail lounge home with you! We love the illuminated bar shelf highlighting the glassware and bottles that make this space feel high-end. Finally, the patterned ceiling tile continues the black color scheme while adding a beautiful texture to this sleek design.

2. A Hanging Wood and Metal Shelf

Adding a hanging shelf below this white cabinet offers even more storage in this corner home bar. A wood butcher block countertop matches the shelf and adds a warm touch to this space. A faux brick backsplash is installed, continuing the cozy and friendly style. Faux brick tile or wallpaper is a great way to introduce new textures into your home bar, even if you don’t have brick walls. To maximize the effect, continue the brick on an entire wall.

3. Floating Wood Bar Shelves around the TV

Floating wood bar shelves help fill in the massive backsplash between the cabinets in this space. In addition, using wood shelves helps add a neutral touch that balances the black cabinets with white oak inserts. Overall, this home bar does a great job of accenting the black color scheme with natural woods that make it feel inviting.

4. Natural Wood Bar Shelf next to cabinetry

White oak cabinets are blended with black accents in this home bar with a large island. On the left side, a small nook area features matching white oak shelves above the beer tap. A mirror backsplash makes the space feel bigger, with plenty of glassware and bottles stored on the shelves.

5. Floating Bar Shelf with a metal railing

A single floating shelf in this mancave bar is surrounded by neutral-colored subway tile and decor. A unique curved light adds a fun design element, while the brown custom cabinetry offers rich wood hues. Building a home bar into unused nooks, like in this basement, is a great way to utilize the space.

6. Gold Wall bar Shelf With Black Backsplash

Gold shelving storing glassware spans this stunning home bar’s dark brown modern cabinetry. Gold mesh inserts in the cabinets add a 1920s charm to this bar and match the hardware and shelves. This space incorporates different textures, from the whitewashed brick walls and marble countertops to the modern triangle backsplash.

7. Hanging Gold and Glass Shelves in a Black Bar

Gold hanging shelves are the focal point of this all-black cabinet bar. Using high-gloss slab (or flat) cabinets gives this space a modern look balanced by the gold shelves and wood countertop. A wood trim accent wall nearby adds neutral and warm tones while still fitting the contemporary design.

8. Modern Bar Shelf Idea Using Wood

This small wall bar’s industrial metal and wood shelf works well with the patterned backsplash and black and gold accents. Navy cabinets add a pop of color that looks great with the gold accents, while a white quartz countertop with black veining helps tie into the backsplash. While most spaces stick with either gold or black accents, this home bar uses both to create a modern but warm design.

9. Grey Cabinets with White Oak Floating Shelves

Dark grey cabinets starkly contrast the marble tile backsplash and floating wood bar shelves. This sizeable L-shaped home bar uses a connected counter for seating with chairs that match the light oak color of the shelving. Decor fills the shelves giving the space an organized look.

10. Mid-Century Modern Bar Shelf Ideas

This mid-century modern style home nails the design with a retro free-standing green bar and wood bookcases used for shelving. Leather seats with rich brown legs match the bookshelf and evoke a 1950s aura. When designing a space like a home bar, committing to your vision is essential. While many of the pieces in this design would look odd on their own, they create a cohesive look together.

11. Mirrored Backsplash with Decanters on a Bar Shelf

Using a mirrored backsplash behind the single white wood shelf in this home mini-bar helps make the space appear larger. The shelf almost disappears in this design thanks to the backsplash and white inset cabinetry surrounding it. We also love the gold sink and faucet that match the hardware and break up the black countertop.

12. Offset Floating Shelves with Wood Backsplash

This dining room bar perfectly matches the hues in the room with beige-colored cabinetry and two white oak floating shelves in the corner. Using a mirrored backsplash for most of this long bar is the perfect way to brighten the room since there’s a lot of natural light. The designer used a wood backsplash behind the shelves to balance the mirrored look, adding warm hues.

13. Natural Wood Bar Shelves with Gold Accents

This bar uses two wood shelves floating on a hexagon backsplash to create an accent wall offering storage space. The best part of a bar shelf is you can choose to style it with neutral decor or fill it with glassware and bottles.

14. Wood Shelves with plenty of storage space

This home bar evokes a rustic farmhouse style with its stacked stone wall and busy granite countertop. Brown floating shelves fill the large accent walls and feature decor to add a pop of color. White cabinets with black hardware are installed for lower storage.

15. White Subway Tile with Oak Shelves

Floating wood shelves are mounted on stacked white subway tile with white grout for a bright look that balances the dark cabinets in this home bar. This wet bar is fully functional, with a built-in microwave and dishwasher. While adding appliances to your bar will increase the cost, it’s a great idea if your kitchen is on a different floor since you’ll otherwise need to run glassware between the spaces for cleaning.

16. Neon Lighting in a Dark Home Bar

A neon LED light instantly makes this basement bar a party space, while the whitewashed brick backsplash and island add a country feel. Black wood shelves on the wall feature industrial letters and help frame the TV next to them. Shelves are a great way to fill empty spaces on large walls, and you can easily change their style with different decor depending on the season.

17. TV Bar Shelf surrounded by Mahogany

This classic-style bar area is ready for sports, with a TV on the highest shelf and barware below it. Putting a small TV on a bar shelf is a great way to make it feel included in the design and give it a framed look without mounting it.

18. Stacked Tile with a Cherry Bar

Matching cherry wood shelves hold sports memorabilia, while the cabinets around them are used for bar storage. To soften the red tones in the cherry, this design uses beige-colored stacked tile that gives the space dimension.

19. Wine Racks on a Subway Tile Bar Wall

Mounting wine racks on the wall is a fantastic bar shelf idea to elevate your design and create a wine bar vibe. This basement space even matches the stain across the wood beams, shiplap island bar, and wine racks to create a stunning design.

20. Open Shelves with Black Countertops

The white walls and natural wood shelves help brighten this wet bar with black granite countertops. To create an industrial look in this bar, the designer opted for faux-brick tile on the bar and industrial metal seats. We love using brick to add texture to a space but would have enjoyed this design even more if it had been whitewashed, helping it blend with the surrounding walls.

21. Black Vertical Tile with White Oak Bar Shelves

If you’re trying to create a wall bar without using the entire wall, install tile to create definition around the space. As you can see in the example above, black vertical tile with white grout and short floating shelves create a bar area on this large white wall. In addition, the L-shaped countertop further defines the area and features a herringbone wood pattern that accents the floors in the room.

22. Black Cabinets with Wood Shelves

To help brighten the design of this wet bar, floating wood shelves are installed between the black cabinetry over the small sink. The color of the bar shelf also accents the light hardwood floors installed in the area. Thanks to the microwave and built-in fridge, this basement wet bar could even double as a kitchen!

23. Light Up Bar Shelf with a TV for entertainment

Take your bar to the next level with light-up shelving! Illuminating your shelves creates a cool effect with bottles and glassware, making it look like a fancy nightclub. While shelf lighting seems complicated, it’s an easy DIY project you can complete in a few hours. You can find DIY strip lighting kits on amazon for under $30 (like this one) that require little electrical experience.

24. Wine Shelf with a Marble Backsplash in a Dry Bar

Instead of closed cabinetry, use open box shelves for wine storage and to add a geometric design element to your space. And this area could even double as a coffee bar in the morning, letting it serve double duty.

25. All marble Bar with Glass Shelves

Glass shelves let the marble walls and countertops in this built-in bar shine. While this is definitely not a budget design, we love the use of slab stone on the walls for a truly upgraded look. Typically, you’ll find bar carts used in small wall nooks like this one since it’s an inexpensive way to create a bar space. But building in cabinets and shelves is a great way to maximize the area and upgrade its design (even if you don’t use marble)!

26. Hanging Gold and Wood Bar Shelf

A bar shelf made of pipe hanging from the ceiling adds storage without taking away from the large mirror backsplash. Hanging shelves are a great way to add storage and are usually cheaper than cabinetry. Plus, you can easily install a hanging shelf yourself, while you’ll likely need a contractor for upper cabinets. Gold hardware is used on the cabinetry to accent the pipe shelf, and a wood tray on the counter continues the warm tones.