Bar Cart Styling

Bar Cart Styling

This bar cart has been quite a long time in the making! While it wasn’t initially what I had planned for this wall of the apartment, I’m so happy we ended up spending a little extra for something special! Now, this area is a true focal point in our apartment and I love all the color and detail is adds!

Let’s rewind for a second…

For the last 9 months of living in this apartment we didn’t really know what to do with this tiny, yet very central, wall. For those 9 months, it’s held a hand-me-down shelf that collected random items that didn’t have a real home -i.e. pocket change, untouched cookbooks (#teamseamless), junk mail and even served as a shoe rack for a while.

Now, this wall is one of the first things you see when you enter our space so I felt it deserved a little more love than it was getting. The main issue is, the size – it’s only 3 ft wide and sits in a major walkway. So, whatever we ended up with couldn’t be too wide or deep, yet still had to look substantial on a 12 ft tall wall. The second issue is the three light switches that also cover the middle section of this wall. Not super convenient for any type of tall shelving unit (which I initially wanted to put here).

Well, after many, many hours of online shopping, scrolling through Pinterest and some VERY helpful polls from my IG followers (TY <3), I decided on a bar cart! This bar cart in particular…

In true Melissa fashion, this was the most expensive of all the options we were considering (sigh), but also the most well suited for the space.

At first, I didn’t want to spend $400 on a bar cart (yikes!), but after receiving some very helpful messages from you guys, telling me to wait it out and buy during a holiday sale….I did exactly that! I waited a few weeks and was able to get it on sale during West Elm’s Memorial Day sale.

Granted, I still paid almost double my initial budget for this project, but I really couldn’t find anything remotely similar online nor something that worked better in the space. Plus, I had my heart set on it at that point 🙂

The two toned shelves, gold metal details, circular middle tier and rounded shape fit our apartment (and this small wall) perfectly! It’s cohesive with the aesthetic of our space and has been a lot of fun to use this summer.

Once the bar cart arrived it was time for the fun part…styling it for the space! I’m going to walk you guys through the key elements of decorating a functional and chic bar cart.

Three Key Elements to Styling a Functional & Chic Bar Cart

1. Liquor & Bar Tools – The highlight of any bar cart! The middle tier on this bar cart is a great way to display your favorite bottles and also gives you easy access to the ones you use the most! A HUGE thank you to my friends at Bacardi for sending over our favorites – Bombay Sapphire and Grey Goose! & for introducing us to St. Germaine!! The perfect summer cocktail if you ask me 🙂

We stick to simple drinks so we only needed simple tools. I found this gold cocktail shaker from West Elm and my muddler and mixing spoon from William Sonoma. I’m storing everything in a large mason jar!

I’m also using a marble cutting board to keep the wooden top safe from liquid and for cutting drink garnishes.

2. Glassware & Mixers – While recording my IGTV video (check it out here) I kept calling mixers, chasers….ugh college you weren’t so long ago where you. I’m using a mirrored tray to display my mixers and extra glassware. Trays are a great way to break your bar cart into sections.

If your bar cart doesn’t have a built in glassware rack, like this one does, use a tray to store your wine + cocktail glasses. Then, when you need them, you can simply use the tray to serve up your drinks!

Mixer Must Haves

I always keep the bar cart stocked with sparkling water, tonic water, ginger beer (for Moscow Mules) and my favorite La Croix flavors!

3. Decor – Once you have all the necessities (liquor, glasses and mixers) it’s time to fill in the remaining space! I personally like the look of a fuller bar cart and added a plant, two prints, and some gold & glass vessels we have throughout the apartment.

We’ve had the “Rap Names” print for a few years and haven’t had a great space to display it until now! I originally bought this for Jordan and never expected it to end up in my future apartment, but I’m so glad it did! People are always so interested in looking for their favorite rapper (lol!). The “Brooklyn Map” print I picked up recently from a local artist. I love how the geometric style matches the larger print and stacking these prints added much needed balance to the wall!

Cool bar related prints:

Decorating with fruit seemed only too appropriate for the bar cart! It’s also a great way to incorporate more color. Lemons and limes of course are the best option (as they won’t go bad too quickly) and also give you easy access to drink garnishes when needed.

If you’ve seen any of my home decor posts you’ll see the gold/glass theme throughout our space! 1. they are so easy to find at HomeGoods, Target, Amazon, etc. and 2. come in such a huge variety of shapes and sizes. I love them for both decorative pieces and for functional storage as well!

My Outfit: Jeans | Knit Tank | Signet Ring | Rose Necklace 

I couldn’t be happier with how the bar cart turned out and, in the end, am glad we splurged for a nicer piece of furniture. The quality is great and I know this is a piece that will stay with us for a long time!

If you aren’t looking to spend $$$ on a bar cart, there are a TON of great options for less! Some that I looked at below:

Bar Carts Under $150

Bar Carts Under $250

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Thank you guys for reading! Make sure you check out my IGTV video to see it all come together.  Cheers!

*Melissa