Facing shifting seasons and the ever-approaching frenzy of the holidays, the end of October calls for a much-needed pick-me-up. Enter: the at-home bar cart. Whether you’re primed to plan a festive get-together or are simply ready to enjoy your own company from the comfort of your couch, a well-styled bar cart can help shake your autumn blues. Troy Lighting offers five simple steps to build your own bar cart from base to beverages.
1. Choose Your Cart.
Terraced, gold-leafed, rustic, tiered, minimal, rolling: the variety of cart you select serves as both an aesthetic and functional choice. As a style selection, it is the first step towards establishing your cart’s look, guiding your subsequent choice of accents and fine liqueurs. As the base for your decor and beverages, it must be appropriately sized and structured to give you room to manage and mix sour shots, candied cocktails and everything in between.
2. Opt for Accents.
Having chosen the foundation for your at-home bar, you can now move on to styling. Placing larger objects first, consider your options: Do you want a striking centerpiece to conduct the order of your bottles? A floral display to add organic overtones to your presentation? A table top book arrangement to stir up conversation? At this stage, decide what decorative elements will be the most space-consuming and attention-grabbing.
3. Determine Your Taste.
With your first aesthetic layer in place, it’s time to choose your booze. Remember, in this case the appearance of your bottles is as relevant as the liquor inside. An easy exercise is to address your existing style and ask yourself what drink would fit the bill, concentrating on color composition. Deep wood may call for a dark whisky. Mirrored accents may pair best with clear vodka. Color pops may ask for tinted rums. If you plan on serving directly from the cart, be sure to place any needed dishware for ingredients and garnishes on your cart before moving onto the next step.
4. Dip in Details.
Your most sizeable design elements are in and your mixing materials are prepped. Now, assess your display. Do you have any gaping spaces or spots begging to be filled? It’s time to pop in details to complete your cart. These may be iron figures, raw gems, styled paperweights, designer game pieces or other small-scale decorative items. The goal at this stage is to place the finishing touches on your at-home bar.
5. Illuminate Your Display.
With your cart composed, all that remains is illuminating your styled piece. A purposefully placed pendant allows you to enhance focal points, deliberately elongate shadows and effortlessly position your cart within a specific environment. With Troy Lighting’s array of interior offerings, your cart can easily be lit by strikingly eclectic, sophisticated casual pendants with unique yet familiar designs.
Lighting: Troy Lighting, Hangar 31 and Brooklyn
Bar Cart: AllModern, Wiley Bar Cart
Moscow Mule Mugs: One King's Lane, Moscow Mule
Beverages: Bundaberg, Ginger Beer; Crystal Head Vodka, Vodka
Cactus: CB2, Potted Faux Cactus
Ideal for industrial looks are Troy Lighting’s Hangar 31 and Brooklyn pendants.
Hangar 31, composed of cast and spun aluminum with solid brass propeller-shaped accents and silver tones, features an old silver with aged brass accent finish. Suspended from a 10" stainless steel aircraft cable, Hangar 31 reveals a powerful presence.
Brooklyn puts a twist on classic factory lighting design by combining hand-formed metal shades, a cast cap with a “Brooklyn” insignia and an antique mirror-lined interior, suspended by a hand-worked stem wrapped with genuine manila rope. The collection is illuminated by early electric lamps and finished in a Brooklyn bronze.
