The decision that matters most for a home cigar lounge is whether it shares air with the rest of your house. 7 of these 15 ideas are outdoors or in a detached building, and those are the only ones that keep smoke out of the house. The other 8 work, but read the smoke section before you build one.
1. Leather Club Chair Lounge
Two leather club chairs, one side table, one lamp. That's the whole lounge, and everything else is optional.
2. Walk-In Humidor Room
Lining a closet in Spanish cedar and adding a humidifier turns it into a walk-in. Smaller collections don't need one; our guide to the best humidors for a home bar covers the cabinet route.
3. Screened Porch Cigar Room
The porch is where most cigar smokers end up anyway, so furnish it properly. A ceiling fan and screens make it work for three seasons.
4. Backyard Cigar Shed
A prefab shed with power, a window and a chair is the most realistic way to get a smoking room that isn't attached to the house.
5. Garage Cigar Lounge
A detached garage with the door up is a lounge and a ventilation system in one. If it's attached, read the smoke section below first. Our garage bar ideas cover the build.
6. Cigar and Whiskey Pairing Bar
A bar set for pairing: three whiskeys, three cigars, a cutter and a torch lighter. Start mild and go stronger in both glasses.
7. Humidor Cabinet Display Wall
A glass-front cabinet humidor built into a wall is the room's centerpiece. Keep it away from windows and heating vents, which swing the humidity.
8. Fire Pit Cigar Patio
A fire pit and four chairs is the easiest cigar lounge there is, and the smoke goes straight up. Wide-armrest chairs give you somewhere to set the glass.
9. Mid-Century Modern Cigar Lounge
Walnut paneling, a lounge chair and a credenza bar. It's cleaner lines than the leather-and-plaid look and just as comfortable.
10. Balcony Cigar Lounge
For apartments, the balcony is the lounge. Check your lease and building rules first; many prohibit smoking on balconies.
11. Poker and Cigar Room
A card table under a low lamp is the classic cigar room. Put the ashtrays on side tables so the felt survives.
12. Gentleman's Study with a Globe Bar
A globe bar and a desk humidor make a study into a cigar room without a renovation.
13. Pergola Cigar Lounge
A pergola gives an outdoor lounge a ceiling without trapping the smoke. Outdoor sectionals make it a place people stay.
14. Basement Cigar Lounge
Basements are the most common indoor choice and the hardest to keep from smelling up the house. If you go this way, the smoke section below is the part to read.
15. Cigar Lounge Gazebo
A gazebo with a patio heater stretches the outdoor season by months. Open sides keep the air moving.
Can You Have a Cigar Room Inside Your House?
You can, but you can't keep the smoke in it. The CDC says there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure. It also says smoke drifts through hallways, stairwells and ventilation systems, and that eliminating smoking indoors is the only way to fully protect people who don't smoke.
So the line that matters on this list is indoor versus outdoor, not style. The outdoor and detached ideas (#3, #4, #5, #8, #10, #13, #15) keep the smoke out of the house. The indoor ones (#1, #2, #6, #7, #9, #11, #12, #14) will share some of it with every room on the same air system, however good the fan is.
If you build indoors anyway, put the room at the end of the house, keep the door shut, exhaust the air straight outdoors, and don't let it share a return with the bedrooms. That cuts down what reaches the rest of the house. It doesn't eliminate it, and nobody who sells you a smoke eater can promise otherwise.
What Cigars Should You Keep in the Lounge?
Of our 48 cigar reviews, 7 score 90 or higher and top out at $10 a stick. That's the humidor stock for a lounge where friends smoke too:
- Joya de Nicaragua Antano 1970 Gran Consul: 91/100, Under $10
- Alec Bradley Black Market Robusto: 91/100, Under $10
- Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story: 91/100, $6-10
- Oliva Serie O Double Toro: 90/100, Under $10
- Foundation Charter Oak Habano Toro: 90/100, $5-7
- Padron 1000 Series Natural Robusto: 90/100, Under $10
- AJ Fernandez New World Puro Especial Robusto: 90/100, $5-8
For the special-occasion shelf, see our 10 best cigars. To keep them in good shape, our guide to storing cigars at home covers humidity.