The 8 Best Bar Cabinets for 2024, According to Our Research

Best Bar Cabinets for 2023 — Photo:
Target

Selecting the right bar cabinet for your home is a combination of form, function, and taste. With so many styles and features to choose from, it can quickly get overwhelming. To help you navigate the plethora of options, we’ve selected a few of our favorite styles below, all of which meet a variety of size, storage, and style criteria.

A few things to keep in mind before getting started: While some bar cabinets have a built-in wine fridge, most don’t. So if you’re a big wine collector, you might want to opt for a stand-alone wine fridge. And speaking of refrigeration, it’s important to know what can be stored in a liquor cabinet versus what needs to be refrigerated. Read on for more on that topic, as well as some of our favorite choices for the best bar cabinets.

Our Top Picks

West Elm Mid-Century Tall Bar Cabinet at West Elm $1,149

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Best Value:

Lifestorey Jasper Tall Bar Cabinet at Target $350

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Best for Wine:

Anthropologie Fern Bar Cabinet at Anthropologie $2,398

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Best Tall:

CB2 Suspend Tall Bar Cabinet at CB2 $990

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Best with Cabinet Doors:

Crate & Barrel Cantina Bar Cabinet at Crate & Barrel $1,099

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Best Compact:

West Elm Slatted Bar Cabinet at West Elm $899

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Best Fluted:

Crate & Barrel Exclusive Fayette Black Nero Marquina Fluted Bar Cabinet at Crate & Barrel $1,699

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West Elm Mid-Century Tall Bar Cabinet

PHOTO: West Elm

$1,149 at West Elm

Pros

Plenty of storage space, including a wine glass rack and a handy fold-down tabletop.

Cons

No open-air space.

Made of solid, kiln-dried acacia wood, this tall cabinet is a stately and sophisticated mid-century style bar cabinet. The main cabinet features a built-in, six-bottle wine rack, a gated shelf on each door, and two built-in spacious shelves to store your party-throwing accessories, like an ice bucket or punch bowl and glasses.

The top section is covered by a pull-down door that doubles as a serving station — great for cutting a few lemons or shaking up a cocktail. At 12 inches high, this part is perfect for keeping your go-to barware, like shakers, strainers, and stirrers, at the ready. Its solid wood construction is kiln-dried, so it's made to last through soiree after soiree for years to come, and its walnut finish is a classic color that's always in style, making this a versatile piece in almost any home. If you wish to keep your favorite bottles on display, unfortunately, this piece does not have any open-air space.

Dimensions: 32 x 19 x 50 inches | Material: Solid acacia wood and acacia veneer

Best Value

Lifestorey Jasper Tall Bar Cabinet

PHOTO: Target

$350 at Target View on Bed Bath & Beyond

Pros

This is a sleek-looking bar cabinet with great storage.

Cons

MDF construction isn’t the most durable.

This Jasper bar cabinet from Lifestorey looks like it should cost far more than it does. We love its modern, streamlined design with excellent storage options, which include two pull-out drawers and a fold-down cabinet door with plenty of room inside for your favorite spirits, glassware, and more. Plus, the fold-down door offers a prep area should your cocktail need mixing before serving.

While we’re less excited that this cabinet is largely made from MDF and particleboard, the legs are solid wood, which gives it a sturdy (and elegant) foundation. Jasper is a great choice for tight budgets and small spaces alike.

Dimensions: 52.76 x 31.5 x 18.25 inches | Weight: 86 pounds | Material: MDF, particleboard, poplar wood

Best for Wine

Anthropologie Fern Bar Cabinet

PHOTO: Anthropologie

$2,398 at Anthropologie

Pros

Ample storage for wine, glasses, and all your barware.

Cons

It’s large and heavy (but anti-tip hardware is included).

Sometimes a bar cabinet is less of a basic “cabinet” and more like a statement piece of furniture. The Fern Bar Cabinet falls in the latter category, and that’s one of the reasons we love it. Some of the other reasons? Storage for 18 bottles of wine, two Carrara marble-topped drawers to keep odd loose ends hidden away (on wooden glides, so they open and close like a dream), a built-in stemware rack, and tempered glass doors to keep everything protected without keeping it out of sight.

The Ferm is made of ash wood and comes in three finishes, all of which show off the natural texture of the wood. All hardware is brass-finished stainless steel, and removable legs offer a chance to change the look of the cabinet completely.

Dimensions: 65.5 x 35.25 x 17 inches | Weight: 238 pounds | Material: Ash wood and Carrara marble

Best Tall

CB2 Suspend Tall Bar Cabinet

PHOTO: CB2

$990 at CB2

Pros

Could easily double as a bookshelf.

Cons

There is no built-in glassware storage.

The Suspend Tall Bar Cabinet is a well-executed exercise in simplicity. The six-foot tall structure has just two storage areas: A marble-lined, recessed space that’s ideal for showing off your most lovely barware and glassware and a lower cabinet — with a door — where you can tuck things out of sight. Both areas can easily fit most wine and liquor bottles (they’re 15 and 16 inches tall, respectively).

Made of veneer-covered wood, the lack of handles and knobs contributes to this cabinet’s sleek silhouette. Available in either charcoal with black Marquina marble or walnut with white Carrara-style marble, one of the reasons we love this cabinet is that it can easily function as a bookshelf if you decide it no longer works as bar storage.

Dimensions: 23.5 x 15 x 74 inches | Material: Solid yellow poplar, engineered wood, and walnut veneer

Best with Cabinet Doors

Crate & Barrel Cantina Bar Cabinet

PHOTO: Crate and Barrel

$1,099 at Crate & Barrel

Pros

Plenty of specialized storage that can be rearranged to meet your needs.

Cons

It is only available in one color.

If you’re the type who lives by the motto, “A place for everything and everything in its place,” then this is the cabinet for you. Open the cabinet doors to reveal six integrated stemware racks, a drawer for your tools and accessories, and four reversible shelves that provide a standard, flat surface or a battened side for neatly storing up to 16 bottles.

Sleek, virtually out-of-sight brass hardware provides a clean, elegant look, and we love that this cabinet can be a statement piece as easily as just a subtle addition in any room, depending on how it's styled. The cabinet is made of reclaimed and restored teak wood, making each piece unique. The top of the cabinet consists of a gallery shelf with a removable slab of white Banswara marble that doubles for serving or displaying.

Dimensions: 33 x 15.75 x 43.25 inches | Material: Recycled teak, mango wood, and engineered wood frame

Best Compact

West Elm Slatted Bar Cabinet

PHOTO: West Elm

$899 at West Elm

Pros

A simple, chic bar cabinet available in two finishes.

Cons

The wine rack may not be the best use of space.

This little cabinet is perfect for anyone who wants a bar cabinet but doesn’t necessarily need to store a bunch of bottles. It’s available in either a walnut or black finish (we honestly can't decide which color we like better) with sliding doors, and the simple, slatted design is sure to fit in with your existing decor. The bottom shelf features a convenient built-in wine rack that holds up to 6 bottles — and if you’re more of a spirits enthusiast, well, no one said the bottles have to be wine. The top sits on sleek, metal legs in a dark bronze finish, and they come with levelers should your floors be uneven.

At 32 inches, it's the perfect height for serving, and with its understated yet sophisticated design, no matter the type of details you wish to display on top, it will tie the piece together, whether it's a few recipe books or your favorite glasses and a decanter. This is a no-frills cabinet that looks great and will last for years to come.

Dimensions: 32 x 18 x 36 inches | Weight: 79 pounds | Material: Kiln-dried solid wood & engineered wood

Best Fluted

Crate & Barrel Exclusive Fayette Black Nero Marquina Fluted Bar Cabinet

PHOTO: Crate & Barrel

$1,699 at Crate & Barrel

Pros

This is a very stylish-yet-practical bar cabinet.

Cons

Limited storage space for upright bottles.

Crate & Barrel brings us another head-turning bar cabinet with this fluted, art deco-inspired gem. The doors swing outward to reveal a purpose-built interior, complete with a rack to hang stemware, shelves with dividers to keep bottles from rolling, and refrigerator door-style racks to hold especially tall standing bottles on each side. We love its curved corners for refined elegance.

You won’t fit a large collection of either wine or spirits in the Fayette, but you’ll certainly be able to curate an intentional selection you’ll be proud to show off.

Dimensions: 36 x 19 x 46 inches | Material: Mango and oak woods, marble

Factors to Consider

Size

What size bar cabinet is best for you depends on a few things. Are you storing just liquor and wine bottles? If so, about how many? Or do you also want to store your glassware and barware? Additionally, where in your home will you be placing the bar cabinet, and do you imagine wanting to move it around in the future? These are all important questions to ask.

Style

Of course, style is subjective, but there are a few things to consider: open-air or closed cabinets? If you don’t touch your bar often, something with doors might be the way to go — less dusting. Are you looking for something colorful and fun, or neutral and subdued?

Features

Beyond specialized storage for glassware, bottles, and accessories, consider other things you might want in a bar cabinet: a built-in refrigerator or ice bucket? A prep area with a cutting board? Built-in lighting? These are all things to consider when deciding the best bar cabinet for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average size/height of a bar cabinet?

It truly depends! They can be tall and narrow, tall and wide, short and wide — there's no standard size — but be sure that any shelving provides at least 12 to 15 inches of clearance, enough to accommodate most wine and liquor bottles. Another thing worth noting: If you’re on the fence about a certain size or style, try using a kitchen cart of a similar design to help get a better sense of what’s working — or what’s not working — with that look.
What do you keep in a bar cabinet?

Any alcohol or mixer that doesn’t need to be refrigerated can be stored in a bar cabinet. Entertaining accessories, like ice buckets and tongs, punch bowls, cocktail napkins, and barware, as well as specialized glassware, are also often stored in a bar cabinet — it just depends on your needs and desires.

For more detail here, we spoke with Bianca Miraglia, founder of Uncouth Vermouth, a line of small-batch fortified wine (yes, vermouth is actually a wine, not a liqueur!) made with locally grown and foraged ingredients, to get some tips on the best ways to store alcohol. “Any wine and anything wine-based that is under 25% alcohol (such as Vermouth and Sherry) go in the fridge right after opening,” explains Miraglia, who’s also a sommelier. “This doesn't completely pause the oxidation process, but it slows it down a bit [so it lasts longer].” So while anything in these categories can be stored in your bar cabinet at first, move them to cold storage once opened. How long do they last in the fridge? It depends. “If you prefer to drink these types of beverages fresh, consume them within a few weeks of opening. If you enjoy them as they continue to oxidize, you may drink them for as long as they taste good to you,” says Miraglia. Her other tip: “Try not to treat anything as too precious.”
Where should a bar cabinet be placed?

Most of the time, folks prefer to keep their bar cabinet in the room where they most often entertain, usually the living room or dining room. That said, extended exposure to the sun isn’t recommended for alcohol bottles, so it’s best to rotate the bottles out every month or so if your cabinet sits in a particularly sunny spot.

Our Expertise

Erin Scottberg, an alum of Saveur, Modern Farmer, and Domino magazines, among others, has been covering food, kitchenware, and the people who work in and adjacent to kitchens for nearly a decade. She writer drew on her own experience and background in interior design and styling and also surveyed a variety of design experts. She then selected several options that meet a variety of style and functional needs as well as exceeded expectations for quality of construction, value, and performance.
Summer Rylander, a food and travel journalist who has written about food, beverage, and cooking products for Food & Wine, Allrecipes, Serious Eats, and The Kitchn, also contributed to this piece.
We also spoke with Bianca Miraglia, founder of Uncouth Vermouth, to gather her expertise on the matter.

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