Well mine are inside my server but I think you can get several pretty decanters and put those on top of your buffet instead of the bottles.

Mine are inside a server as well...
it has a roll top which is where we keep the wine tools and some wine glasses.

When I saw the question my answer was going to be "Why, right here in my coffee mug." But I guess that wasn't the response you were looking for. We have a lot of cabinet space, so ours are in a kitchen cabinet. But I really like the look of nice liquor bottles (either in decanters or their original bottles) displayed standing in a shallow (square or rectangular) basket. I just saw a pic of this somewhere, but can't remember where... sorry.

We eliminated all hard liquor when our first hit his teen years. I guess now that he has graduated college, and his younger brother has hit 20 I could re-invest...

The original owners of our home had a built in liquor cabinet in the dining room. We re-purposed it as a display nook, but I could return it to it's original purpose.

What I have is in one of those little cabinets in the kitchen that is so high up it's inaccessible easily for most other stuff. If I want to pull down my Triple Sec and Tequila for margaritas, or grab the bottle of Rum for a quick rum & coke, I can barely reach it. But I don't see that as a problem. To tell the truth, I kind of don't like seeing anyone's liquor out on display. Although I like a drink now and then, and most of my friends drink, it seems too much like "Well, we do love our liquor here!" to me.......

Red

Giggling - well, at the moment, in a box in the living room!!!

Seriously - DH wants a small dry bar in the family room, but we have so many other projects to take care of right now. He put them on the top shelf of one of my kitchen cabinets. But I was worried about the stability of said shelf, and took them down. I have to make room for them someplace until he gets his bar, but for now, the corner of the living room will do!

DonnaR/CA

When I saw the question my answer was going to be "Why, right here in my coffee mug." But I guess that wasn't the response you were looking for.

LOL! Yeah, my initial response was going to be "In my liver", but I guess that's not really cool either. We rarely have anything of the alcoholic variety in the house (maybe the occasional few beers in the fridge, and I think there's still a bottle of Damiana liqueur in the freezer), but back when we were making margaritas at home, we'd just store the booze in the pantry.

I just bought a pretty antique china cabinet for that purpose. We had stored our bottles above the refrigerator for yrs. It seems like we only get them out at holidays since we mainly like wine and beer. I was excited to have a special cabinet to store them in b/c now we can have our guests spread out a little more than just in the kitchen. I will try to get a picture posted. I think it looks very pretty and from a distance you can not tell what is inside.

We keep vodka in freezer and the rest in the cabinet that isn't convenient. I think the decanters are really pretty and if we drank more, I would definitely use them.

We drink wine and I wanted a storage when we were building but DH didn't think we needed one. Now he wishes we had put one in. We have room for about 20 different bottles in my butlers pantry. I also keep a couple brands of more expensive liquors on trays (with pretty shot glasses)displayed in there should a guest want something different. I think someone here mentioned they've used the room under their stairwell as a wine cellar. I really like that idea and we've discussed that for down the road.

We have a nice dark, dry pantry. The liquor is kept in there. We don't drink hard liquor, much prefering dry red wine, and our wines are kept in a wine fridge.

We remodeled some built-in cupboards that were previously used for arts and crafts supplies and bills.

We keep most of our hard liquor behind the glass and wine down below. We also store extra wine bottles in a cupboard.

We have added a few more liquor bottles since this photo was taken. We're not big drinkers or entertainers so we don't really need a lot of room.

Jodi-

In the freezer- vodka, peppermint schnapps
In my laundry room- don't laugh it makes perfect sense, right next to the kitchen- all the unopened margarita mix, mudslide mix, strawberry margarita mix
In the fridge- sangria, mojito, beer, some wine or champagne or something (I don't drink wine unless it is in my sangria); people keep bringing that stuff to parties and we don't drink it so it just stays in the fridge until next party. I'll have to learn to make drinks that have wine or champagne in them so we can get rid of those bottles as they come in.
In my spice cabinet- vermouth, grenadine, brandy
I'm not sure where DH hid the scotch; I don't drink it so I don't know where he stashed it. It may be gone.

Wow, I never realized our alcohol was spread all over the place. We usually drink beer, but are always ready for something frozen to enjoy on the Loco Lizard Patio Lounge. We have lots of parties too.

But I think decanters are beautiful too. My grandma and grandpa used to have a bar in their basement and I just loved the way the decanters looked. One day I'll have a proper bar with everything set up the way I want. Not in this house though.

Wow, Jodi! That is gorgeous!

And I gotta say, this thread is making me want to go to happy hour as soon as I get off work today. ;-D

AuntJen, I'll meet you at Meghane's house for happy hour. Her house sounds fun! ;)

You're on! Her house does sound like fun! (And if we get slightly tipsy, she can send us on a "find the hooch" scavenger hunt! LOL!)

Most of the interesting stuff is in the bottom of the kitchen's pantry cupboard.

My DH built a wine rack in our breakfast bar -- and thats full. There's a few bottles in the other wine rack too ....
Plus a fridge in the garage for the beer -- and the cold white wine ....... and the champagne .......

Fridge and pantry. I pull relevant bottles out and arrange on a counter in the kitchen with an ice bucket/glasses, etc. for parties. No wet or dry bar built-ins in this house and I'd have to lose my baker's rack to accommodate a cabinet. I have one crystal decanter in the dining room, but that's it.

We, too, keep ours above the fridge. It never crossed my mind to keep it out but come to think of it I have seen some beautiful decanters. Hmmm, now I'm starting to think.... Then again if it were out I might be inclined to take a swig everytime I walk by - especially on "those kinds of days" lol! I can just imagine what my dh would think if he came home one day and I was passed out on the sofa. Maybe I should find out today.

We don't keep any in our home. We still have two teens at home, and unfortunately our oldest child (who does not live with us) is an alcoholic. We learned the hard way that even if you lock the alcohol up, teens have a way of finding it! If DH or I want a drink, we order one at a restaurant. If we entertain, we purchase the alcohol right before the event, and send any leftovers home with the guests.

Our server has an inside shelf that is set back...so some bottles stand upright in the server, the rest the caps are on tight and they are on their side....hasnt hurt them, i have done this for 18 years. Wine is stored on a portable wine rack.

You all can come on over! I'll fill up the baby pool and we can dip our tootsies in to stay cool while we get tipsy.

Well on soap operas they always leave it out on a convenient tray/table usually right by the couch! I guess where you store it depends on how you use it, how much, and what types you keep around. We entertain A LOT and keep a tremendously stocked bar because we usually hire a bartender for big parties and want to make sure we have everything under the sun available. We do not have a dedicated wet bar but the bar area is incorporated into our kitchen. We made one of our double lower cabinets so that only the bottom shelf rolls out and the top is an adjustable shelf. Most of our fifths and pints are there. Then the 1.5 liter bottles are under the bar prep sink. In our new house that we will be building whenever this one sells, we are going to have a small wet bar that will not be conducive to large scale entertaining but will be just perfect for the two of us.

Okay, now it's a competition for the most fun house - ncamy's or Meghane's.

Neither dh nor I drink. Well, maybe I have a glass of red wine a couple of times per year, but that's it. We don't have any alcohol at all in the house. Except a 40-year-old bottle of French wine that somebody gave me as a gift 15 years ago. It cost about $100 (bought in France). I'm sure it's not good any more, since we just sort of put it wherever. This thread, however, is making me think that maybe we should keep at least a little wine in the house, for guests. :)

Hahahaha! I dunno - Ncamy doesn't allow shots, but ya can dress like a devil woman there. (That just looks like entirely too much fun!)

We don't keep any in the house either. I am so surprised I am not the only one.

rucnmom: I'm glad I'm not the only one! It's just never been a part of our lives, so we never even think about it. But now I'm wondering if we aren't strange. :)

OS -- you're not alone. We've stocked the wet bar that came with the house with ... paper towels, lightbulbs, batteries and extra napkins and TP. It's our Costco cupboard. :)

DH will ocassionally bring home a bottle of wine or some beer, but mostly we just order a glass when we go out.

ncamy, please tell me that means your name is amy and you live in NC. I'm coming over, oh and auntjen and sueb20 are with me!

We allow shots and shooters, but require designated drivers and/or they sleep here (or at my friend's house across the street).

No Shots No Shooters No Service - those are the house rules! Our Halloween parties have become sort of a tradition around here and the best part... 95% of the guests live within walking distance. Although ya'll are welcome to roadtrip to NC anytime, my DH will take your car keys!

ncamy, I noticed the guy in the Steelers jersey and I thought you might be in the Burgh. I guess there are Steeler fans everywhere (except Cleveland).

There are more Steeler fans here than Panther fans!

We have a Kitchen Party on Halloween here too ----- on Cemetery Hill!! LOL!

Jan

Auntjen, you crack me up. I also forgot to mention that we do have a "basement fridge" for beer and wine. We don't drink every day (although with the kids home from school now, that could change) or even every week, but we do entertain a lot, and people tend to bring a bottle of something with them when they come. So we end up with a huge supply of wine, vodka etc... especially red wine, which neither DH nor I can drink. So then I bring the red wine to someone else's house. Is is bad to re-gift wine? Hope not!

I drank once, happens to be the only time and I did get drunk. I know I did because I have the one son to prove it!
Never touched it again. It was just too much darn fun for 15 minutes.

My DH and I are the exception around here too.
He never did drink either.
I might need to ask him if HE ended up with a child too and thats why he doesn't !

I have a bar cabinet in my family room that holds a ton of bottles plus all the bar supplies. Its pretty compact when closed, but it can be rolled out and opened up into a full bar for parties. I think ts my favorite piece of furniture in the house!

Here is a link that might be useful: Crate & Barrel Steamer Bar Cabinet

On the highest kitchen shelf. My husband doesn't drink at all, and guests and I have wine or beer sometimes, not every day. I have bottles of tequila and Kahlua up there that I bought in Mexico, oh, about fifteen years ago.

I made a chocolate cake once with a twenty year old bottle of kahlua from my mother's very unused liquor cabinet and it was the best cake ever!

I also have a very small cabinet area in the kitchen that i designate as the "bar" area. The liquor is kept in the bottom cabinet while the top cabinet houses all the glasses that are used to drink the liquor in (i.e. margarita glasses, martini glasses, wine glasses, beer glasses...etc.) I can't say that we use much of it very often so it would all need to be dusted and washed when we actaully do use it.

The 40 year old bottle of wine that was a gift 15 years ago can come to my house. Wine gets better with age. Just make sure that it is store on its side, so that the cork remains wet.

I have a built-in bar cabinet in my great room. It has a small sink, too. We have a small fridge on the back patio for beer.

We have a built-in liquor cabinet in our dining room. With locks. All the necessary glassware, etc. in the cabinets above it. We have a wine "cave" in our basement.

When we met my husband's grandparents in Yosemite one year (still living--in their late 90's), they broke out their traveling bar, a very elegant wooden case with shaker, shot glasses, stirring implements, booze, the works. We had gin and tonics in their room.

i have a wine cooler built into the kitchen island. booze goes in the pantry. my previous house had a huge wetbar, so that's where we kept the liquor.

I drink mostly wine and DH drinks mostly beer, but we both drink mixed drinks once in a while, so we have an assortment of "beverages" available.

DH brews beer and probably has over 20 gallons on hand at the moment. That's kept in the "kegs" in the basement fridge and/or the kegerator.

He's recently started making wine, and he just bottled 30 bottles of Riesling. We also still have at least 20 bottles of viognier from his first batch of wine. Those bottles of wine are being stored in the darkroom, which hasn't been used for years and has available cabinet space. He just started a batch of pinot noir; that is still fermenting in the carboy. A few miscellaneous bottles of champagne and dessert wine are in the basement fridge, too.

As far as liquor, we keep that in a cabinet in the kitchen island.

We don't drink either, if I need something for a recipe I buy a little "nip" bottle and it's in the spice cabinet until it's used. But when I was a youngster my folks made a lovely liquor cabinet by removing the front panel of a big antique radio (floor model type, 1920s-ish), discarding the completely destroyed "guts", and installing shelves inside. The front panel was hinged to create a swinging door. It looked great with their assemblage of random antique furniture.

If we did keep alcohol around I would probably be prowling the antiquey places and ebay for a pretty tantalus or a cellarette. They come in so many fascinating shapes, styles, and sizes.

Oh, I love the idea of turning an old radio into a bar! I'd imagine that would be fairly easy to do too.

Hmmmmmm ...

We're in the process of building a wine rack over our fridge. We mostly drink wine, but the tequila we keep in the pantry and the Vodka in the freezer.