The Art Of The At-Home Bar Cart

Slipping into silk and diamonds and sipping on a crisp martini at a buzzing and gorgeously appointed bar like Paris’s La Coquille d’Or at Château Voltaire or New York’s The Nines – you could argue that there is no greater pleasure, especially after a demanding work week. That said, the taste of a perfectly prepared cocktail needn’t be confined to glamorous bars. Sometimes, the best company is a handful of your favorite people and the most desirable table is your own. A fully stocked home bar might be the ultimate entertaining indulgence, but there is something seriously chic about a flawlessly put together, roving bar cart following the guests about your house.

There is an enormous difference between a curated bar cart and a collection of bottles on wheels. The former is an extension of your interior taste, with careful consideration for its styling, spacing and key components. It should be attractive enough to admire when you’re not hosting, but sufficiently practical that making a great drink is easy to achieve without disrupting the whole display or disappearing to the kitchen for forgotten ingredients.

For gorgeous inspiration, look to Girlhouse, the platform run by best friends turned sisters-in-law Hanna Refvik and Kenedy Blom, whose extravagantly styled entertaining arrangements have attracted an enthusiastic following. Their particular talent is for making complete indulgence look both effortless and an option for every day: martini trolleys dressed with vintage silver and crystal, tabletop displays featuring enormous bowls of ice, oysters and caviar, and more intimate assemblages on elegant trays resting on queen-sized beds.

“We think a bar cart should feel like part of your home, not just a place to store alcohol,” they explain. “We love mixing beautiful glassware, vintage silver and fun little finds with the essentials. A good tray can pull everything together, and we love when practical items, like your ice bucket or olive dish, are pretty enough to leave out.”

For a sophisticated foundation, a Christofle leather-trimmed stainless steel tray makes an excellent starting point, and the house’s marble and stainless-steel bar accessories, with their Art Deco-inspired geometry, are a great way to turn everyday necessities – such as ice buckets and bottle coolers – into decorative objects. L’Objet’s sculptural ‘Prism’ glass decanter is another piece that doubles as art; a fantastic focal point for the room.

And don’t feel obliged to keep everything matching. “A few good bottles, mismatched vintage glasses, a bowl of olives and some candles are really all you need,” say the Girlhouse duo. “We want it to look beautiful, of course, but also feel like someone could walk in and have a martini in their hand within five minutes.”

A properly lavish drinks trolley caters to appetites beyond the liquid variety. Girlhouse has this aesthetic down to an absolute tee. They firmly believe in the art of “casual caviar”, a philosophy that involves taking expensive delicacies down from their pedestal and enjoying them whenever the whim hits.

“Why wait for a dinner party or a birthday to open the caviar? Have it with potato chips on a random Tuesday, preferably in your pajamas with a martini in hand,” they suggest.

Brunello Cucinelli’s silver-plated stainless-steel caviar set is an elegant way to serve it, while Christofle’s ‘MOOD Yummy’ silver-plated cocktail forks, housed in a sculptural egg-shaped holder, are ideally suited to oysters or other small delicacies. Add linen cocktail napkins and let your guests help themselves.

And if your entertaining ambitions extend no further than a night in on the sofa? All the better. “We’re big believers that you don’t need a special occasion to enjoy the good stuff,” say the Girlhouse duo.