A DIY Hanging Bar That'll Upgrade Your Small Patio Space

If you want to start hosting outdoor events with your friends and families but have a small patio or deck (they're different), your dreams may feel just out of reach. Having your guests run in and out of your home for necessities like drinks can be a hassle, but adding coolers or a standing bar cart may take up scarce space you want to save for mingling. Fortunately, with this DIY from YouTuber Hometalk, you can maximize your outdoor space while giving yourself a stylish place to serve drinks, converting a used wooden pallet into a handy, hanging home bar.

Have you heard of a Murphy bed? This DIY hanging bar works on a similar idea: Open when you need the surface and closed and tidy when you need the space, helping you make the most of your small patio. The best part of this hanging bar is how easy it is to recreate. All you'll need is a few wood pallets in good condition, the right hardware, two hinges, a drill, a hammer, two durable chains, and a saw. You can always customize the bar further with stains, paints, and other decorations.

it's always important to keep safety in mind. This is especially true given the array of tools needed for this DIY. Keep proper safety techniques in mind at all times and wear the right personal protection while recreating this project.

Planning is the most important part of this process. Careful measurements are especially key in turning this from a haphazard scrap project to a stylish and functional DIY. Since this hanging bar will be mounted and holding glasses and glass bottles, you want to take the right steps to ensure it's sturdy and durable. Decide where you want to install your hanging bar, marking the studs or use the appropriate anchors to ensure your hanging bar is secure. Consider personal preferences for any customization. For example, you can stain or paint your bar, add features like a shelf or stemware rack underneath.

Disassemble the center of a pallet by prying the interior deck boards off (remove any nails that didn't pull out with the boards). You want to leave the back intact, as well as the lead deck boards at the top and the bottom. This will form the frame of your bar. Build the folding bar top itself by evenly spacing and attaching five or six cut-to-size pallet deck boards to two sturdy 1-inch by 6-inch support boards (the wider bottom frame boards of another pallet work well here). 

Add hinges at the bottom on your bar top and frame so it can open and close. Attach two support chains to the bar top and in the forklift notch in the frame using screw eyes. With your hanging bar finished, all that's left is to mount it and begin to live out your hosting dreams in your low-maintenance backyard oasis.