double-decker glam

we finally have a sweet spot in our new home! i am perfectly pleased with exactly one corner of the apartment, and it's no surprise that it involves a bar cart, one of my favorite types of furniture. it actually has nothing to do with the liquor, and more to do with the sort of retro perfection of the thing. i had been wanting one for a while, and ended up spotting this one on clearance at homegoods for $25. it had a couple small cosmetic flaws, but with one side facing the wall, it's no problem.

i love how there are often two levels to bar carts and how they tend to hold an interesting array of items, creating an ever-changing vignette. as well as they function holding actual liquor and bar accessories, they have an array of other uses that just delight in almost any space.

above is the one in my parents' house that i have always loved - it was in my mom's house when she was growing up and she continues to put it to good use, changing it seasonally and as new trinkets rotate through.

here are some pictures i've collected of other bar carts that inspire the same feelings in me.

this one was featured in veranda and is perfection:

here's a closer look at that one - it's the hanover bar cart from restoration hardware and is sold out - not surprising. it's all that a bar cart should be. the scale and materials are just pitch-perfect.

here's another great one from restoration hardware which is not sold out yet, the duncan bar cart:

here's one featured in lonny magazine from long-lost love domino's editor deborah needleman:

this is from thom felicia:

and this is the gorgeously detailed cosmopolitan bar cart in polished nickel from william sonoma home:

isn't it amazing?

if you've been clicking around, you're learning what i did when i started coveting one - that this kind of glam doesn't come cheap. the restoration hardware ones hover between $550 and $700, depending on sales, and the william sonoma home one is $1400. many of the others you can find are antiques, and either happily nestled in someone's home or for sale in antique stores for a pretty penny.

the most affordable ones i've seen are made of wood and are painfully big-box store looking, even press-board like -- to me, a searing betrayal of the cosmopolitan mod-ness of the whole look, like this one, available at home depot.

no. just no. i feel like if you're going to go with something wood, go with a whole different thing. forget the cart idea, and just go with a big, rustic bar, like the markham console bar from pottery barn which i've always loved:

and even this cart, which has the right idea with metal and glass, just gets it wrong. it's proportions are off, the frosted glass looks like office furniture, and the big black wheels are utilitarian and just so, so wrong.
you can see why i jumped at the idea of one at $25.

for a different take on it, i like this butler tray and stand from west elm. it's a great, lower-cost way of getting the look of a bar cart.

for now, for $25, i'll face the broken piece to the wall. but i'll stay on the lookout for more in this furniture genre which can be used with amazing style in any number of rooms - dining room, living room, bedroom, bathroom, hallway...you get the idea.

all non-original photos from linked sites