Enjoying some white wine from the backyard bar alongside an outdoor fire.
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27+ Rustic Outdoor Bar Ideas – Beautiful Backyard Pubs & Decor

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Summer’s still swinging. And the sun is still shining! Time to fire up the BBQ and get the beverages on ice! How about adding a rustic bar to your outdoor entertainment area?   

We’ve been on a virtual barhop finding epic rustic outdoor bar ideas you can easily DIY for less money than you’d think!

Is your whistle whet? Well then, let’s crack on!

27+ Rustic Outdoor Bar Ideas

Our top rustic outdoor bar ideas include tended and self-serve bar designs that are ergonomic, earthy, and fun. We’re talking about low-cost bar furnishings, characterful fittings, and quirky bar equipment fused to create informal and jovial structures for permanent and temporary outdoor bars.   

So, where’s the best place in your home for a rustic outdoor bar? How about on your patio

Maybe you have a BBQ pit away from the homestead needing a watering hole. 

What about creating an ‘out there’ rustic outdoor bar up a tree or on water?

  • We’re assuming you have an idea of your ideal rustic outdoor bar, and all you need now is direction from the baristas (yes, that’s a malapropism) at Outdoor Happens. Yes?

Good! Stick with us – we’ve got moonshine for your mind’s eye!

Here’s what we’ll get into:

  • Rustic outdoor bar structures.
  • Rustic outdoor bar furnishings.
  • Rustic outdoor bar accessories.
  • Rustic Outdoor Bar weatherproofing

Cool! Grab a glass, and let’s head out into outdoor revelry, bar none

1. DIY a Rustic Rolling Pallet Wood Outdoor Bar

Beautiful DIY backyard pallet bar with rolling action.

Your patio may need a rustic outdoor bar, preferably a bar on wheels that can seamlessly relocate to appropriate spots when necessary. Here’s a rolling bar made with pallet wood, galvanized roof sheeting, and equipped with lockable caster wheels!

  • An epoxy bar top finish and a rust patina on the corrugated iron add to the weathered and downhome charm of repurposed pallet wood carpentry.
  • A black pipe footrest adds a dash of steampunk oomph to the chunky piece!

This cheap rustic bar idea will get your DIY tools singing sweet value!

2. DIY a Fold-Out Outdoor Pallet Wood Bar

Beautiful DIY pallet bar room for backyard parties and summer fun.

Here’s a quaint idea for a rustic outdoor minibar – perfect for a patio! A fold-down Murphy bar. Cost-effective and eye-catching, not to mention functional, in a self-serve manner!

  • The bar comes from leftover pallet wood.
  • drop-down (aka fold-out) bar counter fixed to the front of the cabinet with wrought iron hinges and suspension chains.
  • dark stain treats the wood (charcoal looks great!).
  • Position a few bar stools on either side of the drop-down bar counter.

Simple, space-saving, yet surprisingly elegant! Nice!

Read More – How to Keep Flies Away From Food at an Outdoor Party – 13 Ways!

3. Convert an Old Horsebox Into a Rustic Outdoor Bar

A vintage horsebox trailer may no longer work the road or the nags. But it can transform into a versatile rustic outdoor bar! A repurposed horsebox trailer safely stores your bar gear and vintage liquor. And it’s mobile – you can tow it to any spot you choose in your garden!

  • Your guests can sit on barstools at the Horsebox U-bar. Or grab their drinks from the bar hatch and sit at tables nearby. 
  • The drop-down door also works as a deck for a bar top and on-deck seating.
  • Fit the interior with funky bar accessories and a bar sink.

Search online classifieds for an old horsebox for sale under $1,000!

4. DIY a Rustic Outdoor Bar from an Old Truck Bed

Get acquainted with your nearest auto junkyard. Grab the rear end of an old pickup truck and upcycle it into a rustic truck bed bar

  • Position the old truck bed under a shady tree
  • Level and stabilize the truck bed with tree stumps or cinder blocks.
  • Add wooden shelving, a wood bar top, a bar counter, and a roof.
  • Fit LED downlights to a mock ceiling installed above the bar top between the rafters of the truck bar roof.

There’s a good chance the old truck bed will have an axle and wheels, so you can move the bar as you wish!

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5. DIY a Flip-Open Rustic Outdoor Micro-Bar

Why not DIY a simple rustic micro-bar for your backyard using standard 4” x 4” posts, 1” x 8” boards for bar tops, and 1” x 4” boards for siding? Add roofing sheets, hatches with lift struts, and shelving to get you serving them up at your micro flip-open bar.

This design is a relatively simple woodworking project (basically, a wooden box with hatches and shelves). You will need the following:

  • A level and sturdy foundation (a concrete slab or wooden deck is ideal).
  • Gas struts to effortlessly open the hatches (which also serve as awnings).
  • Easy-to-store rustic bar stools.
  • Dimmable LED outdoor lighting.

For an intimate rustic outdoor bar experience, this design is a winner!

6. DIY a Corrugated Iron Outdoor Bar

Bring a touch of old-world foreshore suppin’ to your garden with a rustic outdoor shanty bar. Solid timber posts and beams supporting corrugated iron create a breezy summer hangout for relaxed cocktail gatherings.

  • You can make the bar counter and tops with standard boards or reclaimed wood lumber.

Add shelving boards, bar stools, and string lights, and you’re off to the races!

7. DIY an Easy Rustic Lean-To Outdoor Bar

Take advantage of and use an exterior wall as an anchor for a rustic lean-to outdoor bar and save time on construction work.

This easy DIY project includes a ‘live-edge’ bar top, adding a rustic ambiance to the barroom equation. 

  • You could use pallet wood for much of the build, helping reduce costs!

The design is rudimentary but practical – cheap and simple to DIY!

Read More – 23 Small Man Cave Ideas + Decor Designs & Tips!

8. Build a 4-Seasons Outdoor Bar Shack and Shed

Here’s a DIY outdoor bar and shed combo built for all seasons, converting an ordinary suburban yard into an entertainer’s dream. And a barfly’s paradise!

Essentially – it’s a timber frame shed with an extended sloped roof that covers an open-plan bar. 

  • The design follows traditional city bar design cues, including a dartboard.

What makes this outdoor bar unique and smartly rustic is how it can easily ward off cold weather and rain (and keep warm air in!) with the addition of marine-grade transparent vinyl drops on the two open sides of the bar.

It looks super funky. Check it out!

9. Create a Historic Chuck Wagon Outdoor Bar

What better way to chuck them back than with a historic cowboy chuck wagon doing the dispensing? Look at this evocative chuck wagon outdoor bar – oddly macho but romantic!

Now, an original chuck wagon will set you back well over $20K, so here’s what we suggest you do to capture that tipple on the prairie vibe:

  • DIY a wooden cabinet with shelves and a drop (fold-down) front that becomes the bar top/counter.
  • Fit rustic wagon wheels to the cabinet.
  • Attach stabilizer legs to the cabinet.
  • Make an arched canopy for the canopy using a repurposed 55-gallon plastic drum.
  • Cover the canopy with canvas.
  • Extend a canvas awning fitted with grommets from the rear of the chuck wagon over the bar table and support it with tent poles, guy lines, and stakes (or use rustic tree cuttings and paracord).
  • Equip the chuck wagon with bar gear, yummy liquor, and bar stools.

Our bet is if you DIY one of these babies successfully, the orders will rush in!

Read more!

10. Transform an Exterior Room Into an African Shebeen

That musty storeroom out back can receive a total makeover and become a township princess straight out of Soweto like this authentic South African shebeen

  • African shebeen owners repurpose items like old steel baths cut in half for bar stools, recycled car tires for bar tables, and beer crates for stage platforms. And the list goes on.
  • You can capture the vibrant atmosphere of an African shebeen by painting the walls of your backyard room in Ndebele house painting style.

Go on. Just do it! 

11. Turn a Garden Shed Into a Year-Round Outdoor Pub

Is your old garden shed too small to house your growing arsenal of gardening tools? Why not repurpose it into a rustic outdoor pub?

Any old shed will do. Just add a lick of paint, some DIY bar furniture (read on for DIY bar counter, bar stools, and rustic bar decor ideas), and a selection of backcountry bar essentials, like:

Don’t hold back on the rustic flair. Bring your hidden heirlooms into the light. 

Display them proudly in your agrarian outdoor pub!

12. Craft a Bush Bar In a Tree

This tree bush bar might be our most adventurous rustic outdoor bar idea yet! And it requires some significant bushcraft skills to make. Yes – a rustic treehouse bar!

In this fantastic video, a man builds an A-frame cabin atop an old tree stump, adds a deck, and caps off the outdoor wizardry with a BBQ smoker made 100% from a tree trunk!  

Yeah – and he does it all with just a Labrador pup, a chainsaw, a folding saw, a hammer, and tons of very long nails!

  • Roofing comes from harvested (chainsawed) wood lumber and vinyl roofing underlayment.
  • The interior of the A-frame can serve as a permanent bar with stools and a sofa. 
  • The exterior deck can sport a BBQ or smoker. Plus, rustic bar seating options. 
  • Here’s a DIY stroke of genius – a DIY log lounger for a forest bar deck.

Loads more DIY rustic bar furniture ideas are coming up in this article, so keep reading!

13. Build a Floating Bar On a DIY Raft

  • Okay – this next idea competes for our favorite treehouse bar idea. It’s a rustic outdoor floating bar!

Some call a raft a dry dock – either way, a floating platform made using standard 2” X 8” boards, galvanized screws, old plastic oil drums, and marine-grade rope can become the base of a unique and wild outdoor bar!

  • The raft/dry dock is easy to DIY and low-cost.
  • Bar furniture should screw into the deck.
  • Make DIY drink holders (like mini schoolhouse pigeonholes facing skyward) using leftover pallet wood.
  • Screw your DIY multi-drink holders to the bar top and other seating areas on the raft.
  • Secure a gazebo to the raft for shade and rain protection or,
  • DIY a raft pergola with 4” x 4” posts, deck 4×4 anchor brackets, 2” x 2” roof trusses, and canvas sheeting with grommets and paracord tie-downs, or,
  • Make a tiki bar thatched roof with raffia palm thatching material.

Tip – Take a porta-potty and a privacy tent with you!

A word of caution – drinking alcohol on a body of water can lead to trouble if you can’t swim! 

  • Bolt handrails around the edge of the raft.

Drink Responsibly!

Now, on with the DIY rustic bar furniture ideas.

14. A Folding Portable Rustic Outdoor Bar

Imagine a bar you can collapse! Store it in your garage when not needed, and then carry it to your party spot of choice! Here’s a durably rustic foldable outdoor bar you can buy. Or, if you’re handy with woodworking tools, you can DIY this baby with no problem!

  • Perfect for garden parties, this portable outdoor bar has below-counter space for ice and cocktail garnish trays. And it offers room for bottles and glasses.

An excellent modular design!

15. DIY Rustic Bar Stools Using 2×2 Lumber

There’s no shortage of bar stool designs, but for a rustic outdoor bar, why not settle for easy-to-DIY barstools made from 2” x 2” lumber?

With rudimentary woodwork skills and entry-level tools, you can bang together rustic and robust bar stools at a fraction of the price of store-bought equivalents.

Done deal!

Read More – 67 Things to Make Out of Logs and Branches – Repurpose What Trees Leaf Behind!

16. DIY Log Side Table With a Hidden Cooler

Hear hear – calling all chainsaw fiends! Here’s a challenging project that’ll impress your drinking buddies – a raw log side table with a hidden cooler!

  • The idea involves hollowing out a section of birch trunk and hinging a birch round atop the log as a tabletop/lid for the base/cooler.

Creatively rustic!

17. Easy DIY Log Bar Tables and Benches

More chainsaw simplicity! Make easy DIY log bar furniture using a chainsaw to cut logs to varying lengths!

  • You can make side stands, cocktail tables, bar benches, and bar stools. Use felled tree trunks and a sharp chainsaw.

A gift from nature for happy rustic drinking!

18. Make a Rustic Cooler Chest From Pallets

Plastic cooler boxes aren’t the most rustic-looking outdoor accessories, so here’s a set of plans and a video to DIY a pallet wood chest to house a cooler box!  

  • To assist you in the build, here’s a detailed set of FREE plans for the chest cooler.

Add a dash of pioneering ruggedness and coolness to your next BBQ!

19. Fun & Funky Cooler Ideas

On the subject of keeping drinks cool without an electric or propane refrigerator, give these novel nifty ideas a bash:

The kids will love this self-serve outdoor bar idea!

20. DIY a Sleep-It-Off Casket Bar Coffee Table

For the ghouls in the crew, here’s a wicked idea for Halloween and beyond! A piece of helpful furniture for your outdoor bar that also serves as a temporary home for the drinker too tired to remain upright – a wooden casket coffee table!

  • Use raw pine to make the casket and stain it rustically.
  • Line the interior of the coffin with foam rubber and satin!

Wicked, for sure, but a definite party piece!

21. Use Straw Bales for Rustic Outdoor Bar Furniture

When your guest list gets long, you will need extra bar furniture in a hurry! Straw bales are the go-to solution!

You can set up a straw bale bar in a flask, arrange straw bale seating pronto – and then position haybale side tables amongst them.

  • Make a straw bale sofa!

Simple rustic charm expressing grace under pressure!

22. DIY a Rustic Bar Workstation and Scullery

Every busy outdoor bar should feature a work table and a scullery. Here’s an epic idea for a rustic outdoor bar workstation based on a potting bench design.

Don’t forget to attach a drying rack to the backsplash wall of the workstation/potting bench (so that’s why the Brits call drinking ‘potting’!).

Get the FREE plans HERE!

23. DIY Rustic Outdoor Bar Lighting

Your rustic outdoor bar will operate well after sunset, so get the lighting in tune with the mood!

Give these outdoor bar lighting ideas a try:

Crack the perfect balance between nighttime visibility and relaxing ambiance with strategically placed mood lighting!

24. DIY a Rustic Booze Bottle Rack From Pallet Wood

Pallet wood to the rescue again! Get those bottles up on the wall with this pallet wood wine rack!

25. Lay On Shooter Games

https://za.pinterest.com/pin/289426713566972338

You have the dartboard. But now you need a dart wall to prevent the darts from flying off into the night! 

Aim to please!

26. Make Sing-Along Music With Organic Instruments

A set of musical instruments is essential for an outdoor bar – for us, at least. Bring guitars, banjos, and concertinas, along with a chorus of voices, but add a few novelty instruments too, like:

Don’t forget that good ol’ campfire songbook

27. Hang a Few Rustic and Witty Outdoor Bar Signs

To add an aura of bar authenticity, why not hang a few cheeky signs about the outdoor boozer? And, while you’re at it, add a few self-effacing bar signs. It will help balance the messaging!

27 rustic outdoor bar ideas beautiful backyard pubs and decor.

Closing Time!

That’s it then, party animal – you’ve stayed with us on this veritable pub crawl and made it to the end with your mind and reputation intact! You have every reason to build that rustic outdoor bar – and manifold ideas to help start the party!

Have fun building. And then drink to you!

Cin cin!

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