Festive Flair: 8 Tips To help you Style A Cute Christmas Bar Cart

Photos By Christa Tippmann

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Good news! You’re about to learn one of the easiest ways to add a punch of festive decorating to your holiday home. In this post, I’m going to give you some simple tips to help you style a cute Christmas bar cart

Read on to learn more about this shortcut to festive holiday home decor!

Why would I Want A Christmas Bar Cart?

Before you object and say something like, “We don’t drink, we don’t need a Christmas Bar Cart!” or “We never have anyone over- we’d never use that!”…let me preface this post by saying that I’m using the word “bar cart” in a very general sense.

Traditionally a bar cart is used to hold bar supplies for making cocktails, yes. But in decorating and organizing terms- they can be so much more!

I use small, movable carts like the one pictured below as pieces of accent furniture. They serve as a staging area for:

• Functional “Stations” – Think coffee bars, craft supply stations, or storage
• Decor + Display – A place to add personal decor touches (especially great for creating holiday displays)

The small, limited surface area of a bar cart makes it a great if:

• You’re telling yourself you’re going to go light on decor this year
• You lack decorating confidence
• Your decorating budget is tight

You can use a bar cart even if you could care less about cocktails!

What kind of Bar Cart Should I Choose?

Bar carts can be large or small, on wheels or not.

They are fun to look for at vintage stores and you can get super creative and repurpose most small accent tables to serve the same purpose.

I have used vintage tea carts, industrial metal work tables, and even an old butcher block to stand in as a “bar cart”.

Whatever you choose, make sure that your bar cart:

• Is versatile enough to work in multiple spaces of your home
• Fits the existing style/decor of your home

Before you begin to decorate your Christmas bar cart, it’s helpful to get a rough idea of a theme or concept for what you’d like to create. A basic concept helps you stay on track when you move on through the other steps and will make your final product look more cohesive.

Picking a theme could be as simple as choosing a color scheme (i.e. silver and gold or winter blues).

Another way to go is to choose a motif (such as trees, snowmen, etc.).

Or you can also go with something more broad and conceptual such as “Holiday Glamour” or “Vintage Christmas.”

I think of the current holiday decorating concept in my own home as “Natural Neutral With Hints of Red and Green” and that’s what you’ll see depicted in these images.

I recommend choosing a theme that:

• Works with the holiday pieces you already have (less waste!)
• Fits in with your existing home decor
• Feels fun and festive

Here are items you can use to achieve a similar look to my Natural Neutral Christmas bar cart:

After you have selected a theme for your Christmas bar cart, the next thing is do is decide what your purpose for the bar cart will be.

Some ideas:

• Gift Wrapping Station (Bags, Tags, Tissue, Scissors, Pens)
• Coffee/Hot Cocoa Bar (Mugs, Coffee Maker, Syrups, Etc.)
• Cocktail Station (Mixers, Shaker, Bar Tools, Bottle Openers)
• Hostess Station (Napkins, Dessert Plates, Extra Silverware, Lighters)
• Nativity Scene Display
• Advent Calendar Display
• Christmas Books Cart (For Kids)

With your theme and purpose in mind, start by “shopping” your current inventory of both holiday and everyday decor items to style your bar cart.

Some items to consider:

• Small Lamps
• Risers (cake stands, trivets, boxes)
• Small Art
• Photo Frames
• Greenery – faux Christmas trees or even house plants
• Decorative figurines
• Serving pieces such as glasses, plates, etc.
• Candles
• Ice Buckets
• Specific supplies for your chosen purpose
• Pretty containers to hold smaller items
• Wine, liquor, or other glass bottles with pretty labels
• Bowls or small dishes
• Seasonal family favorites (a favorite in our family is a dish of red and green M&M’s or red and green Hershey’s kisses in a vintage candy jar!)

Once you’ve assembled your decor items, begin placing them on your bar cart.

Place the tallest and largest items first.

In the picture below, I used a lamp, a tree, and a drink dispenser for height. Spread them out across the cart using all the space. If you need to adjust the height of a shorter item, place it on a stack of books, a box or a riser (here, I used a cake stand) to lift the drink dispenser up to the desired height).

Tip: As a general rule, I try to include 3 taller items in each display. Lamps, wall art, mirrors, vases, and greenery are all go-to’s if you need something tall!

After you’ve set your foundation with the largest items, begin filling in your smaller decor pieces around them.

As you work, pay attention to the mix of materials you are adding. Try to get a good assortment of different textures including:

• Shiny (Glass, Metal, Mirrors) + Matte (Paper, Fabric, Books, Wood)
• Smooth (as seen on ice bucket, wood tree, and red teacups below) + Textured ( as seen on drink dispenser, hobnail glasses, and the white ribbed tree sculpture)
• Natural Materials (Wood, seagrass, rattan, etc.)

Christmas Bar Cart Decorating Tip 8:

Use Repetition

A final tip that will make your holiday bar car look more polished and professional is to utilize the design concept of repetition in your display

This is easily achieved by displaying a set of something. A set of matching drinkware or a stack of dishes are great examples.

Likewise, don’t simply add one bottle of wine or water – add a group of three or five.

On my cart you will also see repetition in the jar of candy canes and the scattering of similarly designed tree figurines.

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Now it’s time for you to get in there and make it happen! I’d love to see what you create- if you style your own Christmas bar cart based on the tips in this article- tag me on Insta or send me a photo (suzette@suzettegebhardt.com) so I can share it!

If you are looking for more holiday decorating advice, here are some more of my favorite easy holiday decorating tips.

I’d love to know… what was your favorite styling tip from this post? Did you learn anything you didn’t know before?