Bar Cart 101

I never thought I would buy a bar cart. I rarely have a drink or throw a party for that matter.

So what’s the point?

When Tim and I moved into our townhouse we overlooked the typical newbie things and didn’t realize how little kitchen storage we had. I mean we have one silverware drawer and a half drawer.

Especially for all those kitchen items on our registry…

I also had been building up a generously sized party collection for our wedding, because I wanted our getting ready photos to be #extracute.

All of this leads me to a big storage problem, and the bar cart was an easy way to solve that!

My Bar Cart Details:

I saw this cart at Target and it was the most affordable one I came across. I definitely didn’t want to drop $200+ on a cart to hold the cocktails I’ll probably never make but keep pinning on my Pinterest. It also helped that it was free thanks to a gift card from Delta for losing our luggage on our honeymoon.

Putting all of this on the cart opened up a whole cabinet in our kitchen, so now our Corningware has a home in a cabinet where it belongs. I’m considering adding some marble contact paper to the wood to lighten it up, but for now I kind of like the masculine touch it adds.

You can see I’ve collected a lot of pineapple type items, all which have been gifts throughout the last year. I have a few bottle stoppers, both gifted from Tim’s sweet sister this year. The LOVE bottle opener was a gift from a Swoozies Bridal Showcase, and the leaf bottle opener was a wedding favor a few years back, but I found it here!

The Pineapple platter was from the Lilly Pulitzer + Target collection and it’s a funny backstory to how I actually have it today. I wasn’t expecting the madness that came along with shopping the collection. I mean I actually don’t own anything Lilly. So in the madness that was grabbing everything I saw available, I bought this platter. Did anyone else experience people hoarding things for trade  At the time, I didn’t have any need for it, so my mom offered to buy it and gifted it to her friend. I always admired it, so she ended up re-gifting it to me at my bridal shower. So in the end, my mom paid me for it and I ended up getting it back.. haha!

The dotted champagne glasses were a find at Hobby Lobby that I purchased for us girls getting ready on wedding day, along with these best day ever cups from Swoozies.  My tassel is from my bridal shower and you can purchase it off Etsy (link!). The J cheese board was a gift from my cousin. A lot of little decor (rose towel, hooray and cheers stirrers, polka dot straws, marble tray) was found at HomeGoods. They recently have caught on to this bar cart trend and have a row or two of bar related items in my local store.

Traditional Bart Cart Components:

• Ice Bucket
• Glassware – I have both copper mugs and champagne flutes. Customize this to fit your taste!
• Wine and bottle opener
• Shaker / Tumblr
• Bar Spoon or stirrer
• Pitcher
• Bottle Stopper
• Straws
• Mixers + Garnishes

The Accessories to Make it Your Own:

• Cute Coasters
• Personalized napkins – I still have napkins from my bridal shower #treatyoself
• Coffee table books
• Candle + matches
• Add a tray for interest – I found my marble tray at Homegoods
• Extra kitchen towels
• Extra serving plates
• Fresh flowers

Bar Carts Under $200:

Other Functional Uses of the Cart + Style Inspiration

Just because it’s called a “bar” cart, doesn’t mean you have to use it as one!

Coffee Cart: I also love the idea of using it as a coffee cart if cocktails aren’t your thing or if you’re underage in college. I would have been the hostess with the mostest during my studying days if I busted out a coffee cart for my girlfriends!

Bedside table: For some added interest in your bedroom you can use a cart as your bedside table.

Bath Cart: If you’re limited on storage in your bathroom consider using a small cart to store a few towels on the bottom and some pretty toiletries and bath soaps on the top!

Dessert Cart: If sweets are more your thing, another way to use your cart is as a dessert cart! Cute for bridal showers, bachelorette parties, birthday parties, and whatever else you have planned.

If you’re not ready to fully commit to a cart, I’ve also seen some really cute bar tray options. If you’ve styled your bar cart of know of other ways to use it, let me know in the comments!

Also, check out my Valentine Bar Cart and my Christmas Bar Cart, they are my favorite updates to date! You can also see my first house decor update to see where it’s ended up in our home now!

Cheers to Monday,

xo Amanda John

SaveSave