raising the bar- every home needs a bar cart

"every home needs a bar cart."  I always say this.  it's a party on wheels!

here's ours.  we turned an old mid century gardening cart into a bar cart.  I love the patinaed brass detailing on it and the fact that it has wheels makes it mobile so we can move it around to suit our entertaining needs...and it's contents/display are ever-evolving.

here are some "moody" bar carts.  what I love about the first one: the bandana, the lamp, and the portrait/framed art.  you'll notice that a lot of bar carts in this post have a lamp on them- so cozy!

what I love: the colors, the blue glass, displaying the crystal glasses, the flowers, {the lamp}, the art, and flowers- you'll notice that a lot of these bar carts have flowers on them; this one is via domino mag

I also love a bar tray, especially a freestanding one, which I believe is also called a butler's tray.  this one is by Badgley Mischka via elle decor.  note the lovely candlestick:

this is my favorite bar tray of the post, because of it's campaign styling:

and here I just love the painting hanging above it:

another lamp...

you'll notice that some of these are brass bamboo, a very popular style for bar carts {which I love}.  here are some more... this one shows another great {and functional} styling idea- swizzle sticks!

on this one I LOVE the greek key detail!!:

the books are a great idea!!

a variation of style...

honestly, just had to include the next two b'c of the pink:

truthfully, I'm not digging the curved lines...

*loving* the preppy style of these:

check out this sunny yellow chinoiserie one styled by Scot Meacham Wood

prefer blue?

a snapshot of more preppy/lilly styling with fun, bright accessories via a southern state of mind

topiary idea...

an overflow tray...

celebrating or decompressing with a bath?  good thing most bar carts tend to be mobile; it could also be used to stock extra towels, etc.:

a little nautica on the bar cart for the coastal homes!

had to include this one b'c of the wallpaper, truthfully, but candlesticks are another good idea:

short on space?  how about turning something like this slender gardening cart into your bar cart?  would love to see something like this in the corner of a room- especially a kitchen or bathroom!!  via dot & bo

and, speaking of other uses, how about rolling one into the guest room when you have visitors for any items you'd like to provide to them for their comfort?

how about the classical use of a tea cart?

how about setting up a coffee station on it?

have kids?  stock it with healthy drinks and snacks that they can help themselves to especially during summer vacation or when they have friends over?

whatever the use, bar carts serve as self-service stations freeing you up to do other things, entertain, be present!

the end.

xoxo

happy new year!!

hope that everyone had a beautiful new year!  here are some photos of how i styled our bash:

i wanted to do only metallics of gold and silver so we made a large mirrored tray out of an old mirrored frame and my husband cut a piece of mirror to fit inside...  we used old trophy cups to hold silverware and such:

i found the word 'cheers' in gold and in a font that i liked on pinterest and i printed it out on ledger sized paper {using my husband's printer so it would be large enough} leaving some of the black background around it so that it would show up better against the mirror.  

p.s. you saw those long gold trumpets?  those were my husband's yard sale find, apparently rare to find them that long anymore {and they still had the tags on them!}.

see those lovely limoges plates?  those were bought at a thrift store that morning for a song {TWO bucks!!  can you believe it??!!} and it came with 9 small plates -in *perfect* condition- a gravy boat with underplate, and a cup + saucer...  by the way, that's 22 carat gold on the rims... 

ready for our guests!

my husband, just because he's cute... 

happy new year!! 

the end.

Let Them Eat Cake! party

dear diary, i am so exited.  my sister will finally be here for the 1st time next month and it's her 50th birthday!!  we have lived here going on three years now so it's about time she came- don't you think?

i am starting to compile ideas for her birthday dinner, which my husband and i will be hosting!  what do you think about these ideas / inspirations?:

layering up the china, beautiful pink flowers, and statuettes

pink depression glass holding treats/for serving desserts

sandwiching cookies cakes or macarons and berries or fruit

DIY labels and ribbon via the crafting chicks

marie antoinette cake topper

labels for table and desserts...

cake stand servers, milk glass, pennant banner...

...see a theme starting to develop?  don't even have to plan these things, they always just end up coming together ☺ as i'm reviewing and editing these ideas, i have a lightbulb moment!  wanting to do a 'pink party' was secretly for me {actually, i wanted to do pink and green- so palm beach, but it's my party}...  but my sis' favorite place in the world is paris and she LOVES versaille and provence, basically anything excessive and decadent and provincial- what could be more perfect than a marie antoinette/let them eat cake theme?!!  and i still get my pink- LOTS of it!! ♥
i still even have a crystal parfum bottle in the shape of the eiffel tower that we put at her table at our wedding- that'll tie in all my crystal- perfecto!  {or parfait}.
i will 'modernize' it a bit with a little paris circus influence since our family rode the ferris wheel and the merry-go-rounds together there!!  i LOVE this flag idea!!  

and, of course, i'm going to have to add some of newly-painted, very coveted animals- i'll probably swap out giraffes for some pumas or something..., along with fabric flowers on the cake!:

marie never would have frowned upon too many cakes.
more ideas to follow...  xoxo

follow up:  okay so it all worked our beautifully.  at practically the last minute i remembered that i had bought a mini porcelain antique 'marie antoinette' bust that i was planning on giving her anyway- a lovely cake topper!  then, my neighbor dropped off a surprise {he had no idea about any of this}- but he just happens to drop off a pair of flocked damask curtains with chandelier silhouettes on it.  isn't that so marie antoinette?  didn't i tell you everything ends up coming together?
so here is the dessert cart that i put together for her, using one of the curtains as a tablecloth:

have you ever seen anything more beautiful?  these are 

cheesecake cupcakes!!