Built-Ins That Make Entertaining Easier

Any transitional space near a kitchen or dining room is ripe for a bar. This unit has white-painted recessed-panel cabinets to match the adjacent kitchen's, creating a connection between the two rooms. Beneath its ample wood countertop is a wine fridge and a liquor cabinet with wire-mesh panels in the doors. In the upper cabinets, colorful stemware and tumblers on glass shelves look almost as if they were floating.

Tip: "Nothing says festivity like a fully stocked bar with sparkling glassware. And by building one in, you give guests a place to chat and congregate until food is served." —Julia Mack, Interior Designer, Brooklyn, N.Y.