Ultimate Bar Cart Styling Guide: What Every Bar Cart Needs

Modern bar carts are no longer just about drinks. They’ve quickly evolved into a chic interior design trend that reflects a growing preference for entertaining at home. And why not entertain in the comfort of your own living room?

Think of a bar cart as a standalone style statement in your home. You can either place it below a focal art piece or spruce up a space with tasteful bar cart accessories.

Here, we help you answer one of the most pressing interior décor questions: “How to style a bar cart?”

Table of Contents

Bar Cart Styling Guide

It helps if your bar cart is a double-shelf cart just for stocking more items. But of course, it can be a single-shelf bar cart too. You’ll just have to choose your most important things for the best functional bar cart.

Bar cart styling typically comes down to following a few basic rules. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you craft a well-rounded and stylish bar cart:

How To Stock A Bar Cart?

Liquors & Spirits

Some bottles of liquor are one of the most important bar cart essentials. So, naturally, your bar cart should have a selection of spirits. A few of the best tipples and your spirit of choice.

Now, not everyone follows a specific “alcohol code” for their best bar cart. It can be non-alcoholic as well.

For those looking for ultra-versatile liquor options, here are some base spirits to start with for your home bar cart:

Vodka
Dark rum
Light rum
Gin
Scotch
Cointreau
Tequila
Bourbon
Sweet vermouth
Dry vermouth
Campari

It’s wise to keep some bottles of wine on the bottom shelf too. While you don’t have to invest in top-shelf liquor every single time, keep in mind that quality alcohol really does make a difference.

The local liquor store is the obvious place to get them. But keep in mind when you’re traveling to pick up some bottles, too.

I recently picked up a Spanish strawberry-flavored gin for my bestie in Barcelona. (She’s a gin lover; I’m more of a rum girl, dark and stormy Moscow mules).

But what about beer and wine, you ask? We recommend placing them on the kitchen platform instead. Why? Because you get to save all that space for garnishes, accessories, tools, and other ingredients to craft world-class drinks!

Mixers

Mixers form the heart of every delicious drink. These non-alcoholic liquids add a solid pop of flavor to your cocktails. Most of them can (probably) be found in your kitchen.

If not, you can always grab them from the nearest store. Here are some of the many mixers that should make an entrance on your bar cart.

Ice – You’ll be using ice in a lot of drinks. Make sure you have an ice bucket on hand when entertaining.
Juices – These could either be fresh juice or juice that’s ready to pour. Some of the most versatile juices for cocktails include orange juice, lime juice (or lemon), cranberry, pineapple, tomato, and grapefruit juices.
Sodas – Sodas upgrade the drinks you’re serving out of your bar cart. Some of the best soda choices include club soda, ginger beer or ginger ale, tonic water, cola and diet cola, and lemon-lime soda.

Other varieties of mixers include simple syrup, angostura bitters, sour mix, coffee, grenadine, tea, and sometimes milk to go with creamy liqueurs like Baileys.

Garnishes

Every drink, regardless of how “divine” it may taste, requires a few finishing touches. For the classic cocktails, this is where garnishes come in to add a nice dash of visual appeal.

A twist of lemon, lime or orange always looks good! Olives, mint, cocktail onions, coarse salt, and granulated sugar are great cocktail complements.

Also, pickles, cinnamon, cherries, and whipped cream are a few of the many garnishes you can keep handy to make the perfect cocktail.

Bar Cart Decor

Now for the fun part! Aside from crafting delicious drinks, bar cart styling also involves adding other finishing decor touches that lend to its visual appeal.

Start with understanding the theme surrounding your cart design. Gold bar carts have a feel of glamour about them. Do you envision a rustic décor, or did you invest in a sleek, minimalistic bar cart?

Once you have a theme in mind, it’s time to add custom accents and accessories to boost its visual appeal. Remember, aside from entertaining your guests in style, a bar is also a great statement décor piece.

Invest in a couple of decorative elements such as a small stack of books (cocktail recipes would be ideal!) Or maybe an art poster, a neon sign, along with a pretty little plant! Adding some fresh flowers is always a good idea for a pop of colour.

Bar Cart Ideas

Here are some bar cart styling ideas for some inspiration.

Style your bar cart with a couple of framed art prints and some flowers.

Bold colours and pattern mixed in with gold and quirky decor items for the maximalist glam effect.

The tone for this styling has a vintage look, set by the oil landscape painting in the gilded frame.

For a wide bar cart, this large art canvas sets the focal point for styling a bar cart. A big bunch of blooms sits off to the side of the bottles, along with a bowl of lemons. All the glassware and essentials are at the bottom. Notice both shelves are styled in groups of three?

Bar Cart Essentials

The three main types of bar cart essentials worth investing in include:

Glassware

Glassware will occupy a good amount of space on your bar trolley, so make sure you pick your glasses wisely.

Pay attention to elements such as fineness, rim, and weight of your chosen items. Think about the drinks you’d like to serve and work from there.

For instance, if Martinis are what your intimate little group prefers, go for some fine and small glassware. If you’re serving neat spirits, invest in nosing glasses. Invest in basics such as rocks glasses, cocktail glasses, highball glasses, wine glasses, and flutes.

You might want to add a few shot glasses and a crystal decanter to your collection a little bit later too. For a more casual style, mason jars are a great alternative.

Bar Cart Tools

Your bar cart is also going to need the right tools to get your hosting night started. A few basic cocktail tools you might want to invest in include:

A Boston-style shaker – No cocktail bartender is ever without a cocktail shaker. As a pro-bartender of your own little bar cart, why shouldn’t you show off one (or maybe more)? Cocktail shakers also make serving time much easier and less messy. You can also use your Boston shaker as a mixing glass as well.
Muddler – Aside from making cocktail creation a breeze, to mash and mix fruit and herbs. A muddler is the best way to “class up” your cocktail-making experience.
Strainer – A strainer helps remove pulp from cocktails with mixed ingredients. They also ensure you pour drinks with zero mess.
Jigger – The best cocktails require jiggers to ensure just the right measurements of alcohol in each glass.

Aside from these tools, you’ll also need a cocktail bar spoon, a citrus press and peeler, a cutting board, and a paring knife. Don’t forget a bottle opener as well! It’s a good idea to keep some napkins and a tea towel on the bar cart too for cleanup.

Bar Cart Accessories

With all your bar cart essentials now sorted, it’s time to focus on the final touches. To give your cart a stunning, put-together look, add a few basic bar cart accessories, like bespoke cocktail napkins, coasters, and swizzle sticks, to jazz it up.

Bar Cart Styling Guide

1. Mood Drinks: Alcohol-Free Cocktails || 2. Fluted Glassware Sets || 3. Bolt Linen Napkin Set of 8 || 4. Imani Tiger Brass Bottle Opener || 5. Marion Stone Dip Bowls || 6. Stud Glass Decanter || 7. Everson Barware Collection || 8. Hatch 18-Oz. Mixing Glass || 9. Brass Twisted Martini Picks || 10. Rabbit Waiter’s Corkscrew || 11. The Essential Cocktail Book || 12. Clear Glass Straws, Set of 4 || 13. Bleecker Bronze Bar Shaker || 14. The Vintage Vogue Linea Coasters (Set of 4) || 15. Citrus Juicer || 16. French Kitchen Marble Wine Coaster || 17. Houdini Sphere Ice Cube Mold || 18. Stacking Double Old-Fashioned Glasses Set of 6

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Creating the bar cart of your dreams doesn’t have to cost much money and can be built up over time.

You don’t have to buy a new bar cart either. Have a look in your local thrift stores and flea markets. A bar cart or bar cabinet is a great focal point for your dining room or living room. Have fun styling your bar cart and trying your hand at new drinks.

Chloe

What Every Bar Cart Needs: FAQs

well-rounded bar cart typically includes the following items:

Liquors and spirits
Mixers
Garnishes
Glassware
Bar cart tools
Bar cart accessories

Aside from helping you host like a pro, a bar cart also serves as a statement interior décor piece. So, when designing its setup, make sure you consider the style of the cart itself and the spirits you’re serving to your guests.

From there, pick functional glassware, tools, and accessories that blend with the overall cart design.

Classic liquors like vodka, gin, bourbon, and tequila are often the safest bet. Go for basic mixers like fresh fruit juices, soda water, and tonic. For garnishes, simply pop in a few freshly cut lemons.

Pick the best-looking bottles to put on display and put the rest away in the pantry.

What Every Bar Cart Needs The Essentials

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Ultimate Bar Cart Styling Guide: What Every Bar Cart Needs