Having A Party? Make It Awesome With This Home-Bar How-To

There's no shortage of great places to go out in D.C. — but staying in has its merits, too. Whether you're hosting a cocktail party or just inviting one special guest over for a nightcap, there's something elegant and charmingly retro about being able to whip up a delicious drink at the drop of an ice cube. But setting up a home bar that lets you play master mixologist without breaking a sweat can be overwhelming, particularly if you have a small budget — and space.

To help us become A+ entertainers, we turned to Katie Nelson, head bartender at The Columbia Room, which Food & Wine recently dubbed one of the 50 best bars in America. How's that for cocktail cred? She invited us into her super-cute apartment to showcase her home bar, dish a shopping list of must-have ingredients, and prove just how easy it is to make three essential libations — a martini, a daiquiri, and an Old Fashioned. Read on to get inspired to shake-shake-shake things up with a little extra buzz.