Repeatedly, I find extensive displays of liquor, proudly laid out in neat rows, in Dining Rooms and Family Rooms of owner-occupied homes.  This is particularly true in homes lived in by folks who are now in their late 60s and 70s.  It makes sense.  This generation loved to offer a cocktail as the prime welcoming gesture as you entered their home.. admittedly, for dinner!

That trend is no more.  And an extensive variety of bottles no longer reads "bon viveur", festive, happy times but rather a gang of folks who'd rather party than look after their home.  While this is a completely ridiculous assumption, it is a perception, and as such, has to be taken seriously.  After all, when selling your home, reality takes a second place to the "perception of the buyer".  That's why we home stagers, and the listing agent, always urge sellers to get their home in mint condition.  The problem may only be a $700 problem but in the mind of the buyer, it reads as a $2,000 problem and that's just for starters!

Another reason not to have the bar, is that it looks cluttered.  So, what to do instead?

• Set up ONE bottle, with 2 glasses on a small tray - like a decanter with 2 brandy snifters.
• Lay out a set of 6 martini glasses with a shaker. Now you have suggested the stuff is only used on special occasions, like when you have 4 friends over.

You maximize your dining room by having it look calm, (i.e. spare), elegant and relaxed. With clear surfaces, the room looks more spacious, and brighter... if you have polished the wood or glass surfaces.  All this adds to the allure of the grander of the spaces in your home.