Employee Style: Colby Reinvents the Bar Cart

Hi everyone, Colby here. A huge part of my job here at Obelisk Home involves the merchandising and styling of product in our store and at client’s homes. I love creating layered and interesting vignettes, so it’s no surprise that I carry that love home with me.

Let’s talk specifically about the bar cart craze. I love a well styled bar cart more than anyone, trust me. After seeing perfect bar carts in magazines everywhere, I got a serious case of cart envy and immediately set out on hunt for one…or two in my case.

Fast forward about a year later and I found myself wanting to totally change up my living room, but couldn’t make the bar cart fit into the new arrangement. I literally moved everything back to the way it was so I could make the bar cart work again. I was determined to be one of those fabulous people in the magazines with the perfect bar cart (regardless whether or not I used it).

Now, I have recently moved into a new downtown loft and as I began settling in, I had a change of heart about the cart. Downtown dwellings are limited on space as it is, and my biggest mission was to maximize the space…this meant saying goodbye to my beloved bar cart.

After shedding a few tears as I shut my cart into my storage unit, I was ready to begin the next phase of my life. I still wanted some sort of liquor display and that came in the form of a gorgeous mirrored tray.

I narrowed down a few things to display on the tray – a few bottles of my most used liquor, some crystal old fashioned glasses, bar ware, and some decorative elements.

Casually displayed on an antique library table, the tray of liquor looks amazing (better than it ever did on the bar cart) and is way more functional for me.

The lesson of the story is that just because you see something in a magazine doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Don’t force something that doesn’t work – especially when it comes to interiors.