Modern kitchens in new houses and apartments are often designed so that they are combined with the living room into a single space. If you organize a bar or an island between the two rooms, you can visually divide the space. In addition, such a kitchen will get an additional countertop. A bar counter with beautiful chairs will be extremely practical and emphasize the individual nature of the interior. Therefore, if in your house the living room is combined with the kitchen, and you want to define the boundary between these rooms, feel free to choose a bar counter. This piece of interior has many advantages, and with the right design will become an additional decoration of your home. About how to decorate the bar counter in the kitchen with your own hands and we will talk in this article.
The use of the bar counter in the interior
The kitchen bar counter is sometimes called a peninsula. It can be a separate piece of interior, or a carefully designed part of the kitchen furniture. Usually there is one part adjacent to the wall, so it does not take up much space.
The bar counter has two uses
- On the one hand, it provides additional workspace. There is never enough countertop space in the kitchen, especially if you put appliances such as a microwave, kettle or electric grill on them. Therefore, part of an extra countertop on which to cook food always comes in handy. With this role, the kitchen bar counter perfectly copes.
- On the other hand the bar counter in the kitchen is an ideal place where you can have a snack or just take a small break. Usually there are bar stools or high stools next to it. You can sit down behind it and talk to the person who is preparing the meal, or drink a delicious coffee together.
Where is the best place to place the bar counter
Is a kitchen with a bar counter your big dream that you are going to make a reality? It’s a wonderful idea. You should know that a modern kitchen with a bar counter is extremely functional if you plan everything carefully.
How to properly design a bar counter
In most cases, the bar counter is a small part of the countertop fixed with one edge to the wall. In this form it harmonizes well not only with the kitchen, but also with the living room. This type of design allows the maximum functional use of available space.
Simply put, we can say that the bar counter in the kitchen, photos of which are presented in the article – it is a boundary between the two zones: the kitchen and the living room, which brings to their overall interior a certain originality and attractiveness.
The kitchen corner with a bar counter can be designed already at the stage of planning the kitchen. In this case it will become a natural addition to the countertop. The bar counter in the kitchen can also have the appearance of an additional piece of furniture – such a solution will work if you think of the bar counter as a way to zoning the dining room and living room into two private parts.
What materials can be used to make a bar counter
The bar counter in the kitchen can be made of different materials. Most often bricks, gypsum board, gas silicate blocks and glass blocks are used. Which building material is best for making a bar counter, depends on the goals you want to achieve, as well as the layout of the rooms.
A brick bar counter can be made of traditional red brick, hand-formed brick with an unusual texture will look especially beautiful. Not bad will look a bar counter with clinker brick cladding. The material is glued on the appropriate masonry mortar. Before you start the work, you should think carefully about where exactly you want to place the bar counter, as later it will be much more difficult to redo everything afterwards.
But what to do if you decided to make a bar counter when the kitchen was already ready? In that case, plasterboard with its wide range of applications can come to the rescue. Gypsum sheets are installed on a special metal frame, which is designed to hold the partition in a stable position.
Small drawers or cabinets can be added to the niche – thanks to which you can get additional storage space for plates, pots or other household items. All of this can be finished with decorative plaster, ceramic tiles or tiled mosaics.
Glass blocks – a fashionable beautiful material, which is an excellent alternative to the usual structures of bar counters made of brick or aerated concrete blocks. Working with this material is very simple, so the bar counter is erected quickly and easily.
The kitchen bar counter can also be made of concrete blocks, but after that the blocks will need to be plastered, and then painted or covered with decorative tiles. Another choice is wood. A wooden bar counter looks extremely interesting, but you should remember that wood requires special protection.
What you can finish the bar counter with
Many people often wonder how to make a bar counter in the kitchen to make it look appropriate and attractive. If it is laid out of clinker bricks or glass blocks, the problem disappears. A bar counter made of pre-finished board or lacquered timber is also ready to go once the construction work is complete. But what if you are in the process of completing construction from traditional brick or untreated board?
In that case, you should think about finishing the bar so that it fits well with the style of your kitchen. There are two ways to do this: choose a finish that harmonizes with the rest of the kitchen furniture, or make the bar stand out by making it an interesting kitchen decoration. The decision is up to you.
Tip! A popular solution is to choose paint for the bar counter under the color of the wall or a similar shade. All this harmonizes well with each other and provides the effect of a beautiful design.
Do you want the bar counter in the kitchen to attract the attention of others? Then the bet should be made on trendy ceramic tiles. The variety of modern collections makes it easy to choose a size or pattern that matches the style of the room. Another choice is a special decorative tile. Tiles that mimic brick are becoming increasingly popular, so that your kitchen bar can take on an industrial loft character.
What about decorative glass? Can you use it to finish your kitchen bar counter? Sure. It’s best to place the glass on the living room side so that it reflects well. You can use any posters and graphics under the glass. This is a great decoration for interiors decorated in a modern style
Optimal size of the bar counter
A kitchen bar counter that performs its function well should have certain dimensions: not less than 60 cm in width and 50 cm in depth. It will be great if the space under the countertop is made as functional as possible. A depth of about 25-30 cm is enough.
A side note! In the case when the bar counter should perform the main role of the tabletop, its width should be about 90-110 cm. Then it will be possible to comfortably perform all kitchen work.
What material to choose for the countertop
You already know quite a lot about the materials that can be used to make a base for a bar counter in the kitchen. However, there is no denying that the material for the kitchen countertop is no less important. What characteristics should the countertop have? Certainly – high resistance to moisture and scratches.
Currently, laminated countertops are the most popular, as they have a low price and good resistance to mechanical damage. Supporters of natural materials prefer moisture-resistant wood. But it should be remembered that such a choice can be risky if you forget to take care of it regularly.
The most expensive are stone countertops. It is impossible to beat them in noble luxury. Mostly such countertops are made of granite. Table tops made of stone are resistant to high temperature fluctuations. There are no special requirements for their care. The only thing you should not do is to wash them with detergents containing acids.
Pros and cons of the kitchen with a bar counter
A kitchen with a bar counter has many advantages. First, it is a great way to separate the kitchen area from the seating area, without erecting a plasterboard partition that takes up a lot of space. Properly designed bar counter can increase the aesthetic value of your interior and even become one of its main decorations. It is also an additional space to work in the kitchen, provided that you plan to equip the bar countertop. A kitchen bar counter is often the place to grab a bite to eat or a cup of your favorite beverage.
Like any solution, a bar counter is not without its drawbacks. They are mainly due to the fact that the kitchen is open to the living room. Therefore it is impossible to quickly hide dirt or get rid of the smell of cooking.
The bar in the kitchen – ideas for arrangement
The bar counter is most often located on the border of the living room and kitchen. It can combine both interior styles of rooms and differently relate to each other in terms of design of the color palette. Beautifully arrange the kitchen with a bar counter – there are many possibilities.
Ideally, you should think about such a decision at the stage of planning the room.mIn the design of the kitchen with a bar counter, many elements are taken into account, thanks to which the room will become more functional. If you want to add it later, no problem – this option is also possible.
How spectacular and stylish the bar counter will look depends largely on the finishing material. So think about what suits your requirements better: a wooden bar counter, a kitchen bar counter made of plasterboard, or maybe a kitchen bar counter made of brick.
If you appreciate elegance and love luxurious interiors, you will definitely like a marble bar counter. That said, remember that functionality is also important. The most practical has always been considered a kitchen bar counter with built-in cabinets or drawers.
