One of the unexpected breakout trends of 2019 is the meteoric rise in popularity of one simple accent piece: the bar cart. At a glance, this trend feels oddly specific: why this one particular, relatively obscure piece of furniture? But it’s actually one that meshes well with several other overarching trends: the move toward multi-purpose furniture, smaller and more personalized spaces, and turning storage pieces into decorative ones. So today I want to take a look at why bar carts are such a hot-ticket item…and why you might want to consider adding one to your home!
A Simple, Affordable DIY Project
By and large, 2019 is not shaping up to be a year for major renovations. Many of the biggest trends revolve around small tweaks and DIY-friendly projects designed to give your home a quick facelift and a little personal flair rather than a whole new look. Bar carts fit with this trend perfectly: they’re small and relatively inexpensive, but make for really striking accent pieces. You don’t have to be a designer to set one up, either. Even if you just pick a spot, park the cart, and load it up with a few decorative bottles of liquor, you already have a pretty interesting accent piece – no fussy detail work needed.
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Showcase Your Personality With A Custom Bar Cart
That said, bar carts also come in a lot of different styles, from very showy Hollywood glam to something with a more rugged industrial feel, or even antique replicas that feel like something right out of a Victorian parlor. Pick one that shows off your sense of style. Whether it matches the rest of your decor or not, it will be an eye-catching statement piece. With a little extra effort, you can get bar tools that match the aesthetic; an ice bucket circa Mad Men, cut glass or crystal decanters, or even just a really nice set of martini glasses will help bring the look together. Set it on a backdrop of a nicely coordinated piece of art, and you have a striking accent piece. Better still, it’s a brilliant conversation starter.
Turn Your Everyday Items Into An Attractive Display
Neat or haphazard, putting all your stuff in one highly-visible place will make it feel like a display. This kind of intentional out-in-the-open, clutter-as-decor is another big underlying theme of the biggest 2019 design trends. Like open shelf cabinets in the kitchen, having your everyday items out where people can see them makes even the most ordinary objects feel decorative and special. So not only do bar carts offer you a whole lot of storage for stuff that might not otherwise have a good place (and fits an impressive amount of bottles and glassware in a small piece of furniture), they also transform things that you probably always keep on hand anyway into an attractive decorative element for your home.
Bar Carts Are Both Compact And Portable
Better still, most bar carts are on wheels. So while you can (and probably will) keep yours in a single place most of the time, you can also move them around within a room, from room to room, or even from your kitchen to your deck or patio. After all, the real purpose of bar carts is to be able to serve drinks without a dedicated bar, and wheels and a handle are all you really need to make that happen. Rather than undergoing an extensive (and expensive) renovation to add a full bar to your home, you can simply load a bar cart up with supplies and wheel it out to wherever you’re entertaining.
Bar Carts Can Do All The Drink-Serving For You At A Party
Having a bar cart on display can be an invitation to guests to sit down and enjoy a drink. You might not want to leave your top shelf stuff where anyone can grab it. But having a visible collection of drinks can take a little of the pressure off you as host (and de facto bartender), since you can enable and encourage friends and family to help themselves. It’s also nice for unwinding at the end of the evening. Whether you’re coming home from a restaurant or just finishing up in the kitchen and want to settle in somewhere quiet, a bar cart will save you having to do more prep before you can enjoy a drink.
Not Just For Alcohol
Now, most often bar carts are used as portable bars, but it’s worth mentioning that they don’t have to be. Setting up a tea or coffee cart works just as well for those who don’t drink alcohol. It’s a great way to show off a big collection of tea or coffee if you drink them regularly. And during the warmer months? A perfect way to wheel cold tea or lemonade out to your deck. Because most of their charm comes from a combination of the cart itself and the fact that it’s putting your things on display, really you can use one about anywhere you need a little extra storage, like by your bathtub for storing soaps and bath oils, or even in a craft room or studio as a way to put your art supplies on display.
Your imagination is the limit! If you’ve been looking for a way to add a signature touch to one of your rooms, if you’ve been wishing you had a little more storage, and particularly if you love to entertain, a decorative bar cart might be 2019’s answer to your problem.
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