Into Space 001: Death to the bar cart
When your frontal lobe forms, you'll know what I mean.
Hi!
The demise of the bar cart: the reasons, the alternatives, and the energetic transformation it will bring to your space. A little backstory — I obviously have had a bar cart before. I actually yearned for one for so long, but I lived with roommates in tiny Kensington Market apartments with hardly enough room to keep all of our shoes, and then solo in a studio apartment with the same issue. Finally, I moved into a spacious condo and had enough space to get my hands on a bar cart and ‘style’ it. And you know what, it was cute for 2020. It was ‘styled’ with dried flowers in a thrifted ceramic vase, an empty clase azul tequila bottle, and little cocktail paraphernalia arranged & stacked to add ~dimension~. Reflecting on this, this was actually the start of me finally having enough space and independence to lean into my love for interiors. It was also covid.
This little reflection of finding this photo was actually really sweet, and so nice to see how far my taste has been developed and refined.
Back to business — death to the bar cart.
Put simply, having alcohol bottles out on display is making your home look immature and cluttered. Think back to university, with the frat houses windowsills lined with empty liquor bottles. Visualize the feeling. Gross.
This fact took a while for me to actually put into motion in my life, but I cannot express enough how putting our bar items away has elevated the energy in our space. Less than 6 months ago, we installed a shelf above our bedroom door to act as a bar cart type situation, based off of this inspiration:
Which we still have, and it added some texture, storage, and interest to our small apartment. We originally put all of our booze up there, and it was fun! Then, as it goes, I continued to evolve.
A large draw for my inspiration on bar item storage is my boyfriend’s enduringly classic and eclectic mother, Mart. She has an incredible eye for classic traditional decor, large pieces of furniture, and The Bar. The Bar is a large, heavy, wood credenza that is completely stocked with spirits, mixers, and the family crystal. When Will and I go visit and stay with her in her incredible loft, she taught me that The Bar is an experience. Rather than having all of the secrets out on display (bar cart), The Bar allows for a moment. The opening of the wooden double doors, pulling out a bottle, pulling out a glass. Making a drink on top. Reaching to the back and finding a surprise bottle of Chianti you forgot was in there, and opening it with company.
We were on the hunt for a closed storage solution for our entryway, as things were just too “out” for me and it was creating a chaotic and cluttered energy. I found the perfect piece on Marketplace, and Will is a godsend and negotiated with it for an hour, wrestling and securing it in the back of my car (I didn’t measure and it was 1/2 inch too wide to fit in).
And finally, The Bar. This piece has elevated our space completely. Having closed storage is undeniably timeless, functional, and classy. I love reaching in and pulling out a bottle of wine for dinner, and storing our abundant drink-specific glassware. Having our alcohol tucked away has given our place a new air of maturity that would otherwise not be possible. It seems so trivial, such a tiny switch, but this is what I mean when I talk about your frontal lobe forming and you are able to see things differently. It’s like when I realized that a cowhide rug actually isn’t that cute. That bomb for another time!
Yours in space,
Brielle