Build a Breakfast Bar in Your Kitchen

Thinking of building a breakfast bar? Whether you want to take this project on DIY or hire a professional, this guide is for you.

Adding a breakfast bar to your kitchen can turn the space into a hub for family breakfasts as well as casual gatherings with your friends. But what does this entail?

Let’s explore!

How to Bring a Breakfast Bar to Life

Before discussing common breakfast bar ideas, it’s important to consider how to build a breakfast bar either way.

Firstly, for a DIY approach, you should only build a breakfast bar yourself if you’re sure of exactly what’s involved. If in doubt, hire a professional.

For a DIY approach, the following broad steps will be required:

• Come up with a design (or hire an architect/designer) for your breakfast bar
• Gather all the equipment/tools and materials (e.g. breakfast bar set)
• Carefully build your breakfast bar (if manufacturer’s instructions apply, follow them to a T)

Whereas to hire professionals will involve the following steps (broadly speaking):

• Hire a designer or architect to design your breakfast bar
• Hire a builder or another suitable professional or company to build your breakfast bar

Popular Breakfast Bar Ideas

Here are some popular ideas for a kitchen breakfast bar.

Utilise Your Countertop

While it’s common to use a kitchen island or similar to create a breakfast bar, you could look into the option of having your countertop extended beyond a cabinet.

This can then establish a small ledge for bar stools so you and other members of your household can take a seat. Realistically this will allow for two stools but potentially more depending on a range of factors.

Paint to Add Colours

A breakfast bar is not only valuable for its direct utility. It can also provide you with a chance to add new colour or colours to your kitchen space.

Therefore, you should consider painting your breakfast bar or having it painted in colours that work well with the rest of your kitchen space to add an extra flare to it.

Island Wrap

One way of using a kitchen island to create a breakfast bar is with an extended wrap around island. By extending the sides and top of one half of the island can create a separate seating zone on one side. This can then establish a breakfast bar at one end of your kitchen island.

Durable Material Options

To allow your breakfast bar to last and to help make the best of it, you should consider a durable material. This assumes it’s possible to choose the material. Of course, in certain scenarios, such as where you extend an existing countertop the material choice will likely depend on the existing material.

However, for a standalone breakfast bar or where it’s otherwise feasible to choose a specific material based on durability, you should consider options such as quartz, granite or solid wood. Each of these materials have their own pros and cons and design benefits.

Fresh Storage With Built-in Cupboards

Particularly if you opt for a standalone breakfast bar, it can act as a great way of adding new storage space to your kitchen (e.g. with the use of built-in cupboards). By having cupboards under your breakfast bar, you can benefit from more room to store items and potentially free up space elsewhere.

Mismatching Stools for Visual Appeal

Having mismatching stools added, whether two stools that are distinct or even two sets of stools, with each set differing from each other, is a way of adding fresh visual appeal to your kitchen space.

While matching stools is the go-to and may very well be your preferred style, it’s worth considering this alternative option to introduce some visual nuance to the space as a whole.

Other Breakfast Bar Ideas

Along with the ideas discussed, here are some other notable possibilities:

• Standalone breakfast bar
• Wall-mounted breakfast bar
• Island overhang for a relatively straightforward approach
• Floating breakfast bar
• Add the right pendant lighting if needed and suitable (e.g. LED flexible strip lighting)
• Option of stools on two sides
• Slimline breakfast bar
• Opt for a bench as your breakfast bar seating

Hiring Professionals

If you decide to hire professionals, whether an architect/designer to design your breakfast bar, a builder or other contractor to construct it, both, or/and other professionals (e.g. electrician to install a new lighting fixture above your breakfast bar), it’s best to secure three or more quotes in each case.

That is to say, you should land 3+ quotes for each given type of professional you need (e.g. 3+ architect quotes, 3+ builder quotes, 3+ electrician quotes, etc. depending on how many types of professionals or companies you require).

By securing 3+ quotes for each job where a professional is needed you’ll have several quotes to compare in terms of pricing, levels of experience and any online reviews or ratings each contractor/company has.