At a holiday party, the bar cart is where people end up standing. Most carts look the same in December as they do in July, which is a missed chance, because it doesn’t take much to change that.
Three things do most of the work: something tall, some warm light, and a limited set of colors. You don’t need a new cart.
First, clear it off
1. Empty it completely. Take everything off and wipe it down. Carts collect half-finished bottles of bitters and odd glasses, and decorations on top of clutter just look like more clutter. Put back four to six bottles you’ll actually pour, the glasses you need, and one set of tools. The rest can sit in a cabinet until January.
2. Choose two colors and one metal. Red and green with gold is the classic. Black and gold feels more like a cocktail party; cream and copper is softer. Everything you add from here should fit. Bottles already bring a lot of random color, so keeping the decorations to a short list stops the cart from looking chaotic.
Decorating it
3. Three bottle-brush trees (on Amazon). Around 6, 8 and 10 inches tall, grouped tightly at the back corner of the top shelf, partly behind the bottles. It gives the cart height and makes it read as Christmas from across the room.
4. Holiday napkins and picks. Swap your cocktail napkins for holiday ones (on Amazon) (3-ply; thin ones fall apart when they get wet) and stand a bundle of cocktail picks in a short glass beside them. Small detail, but it makes the cart feel like a real bar.
5. Ornaments in empty glasses. Drop a shatterproof ornament (on Amazon) into each of a few empty glasses on the lower shelf. Glass ornaments rattling around in glassware on wheels is asking for breakage, so stick to shatterproof.
6. A slim garland on the handle. Wind a 6-foot mini garland around the handle or top rail and secure it with a couple of twists of floral wire. Tape lets go within a week. Keep it loose rather than pulled tight.
7. Lights under the top shelf. Tape a warm-white copper wire light strand (on Amazon) to the underside of the top shelf so it lights the bottles below, like the back of a bar. Hide the battery pack behind a bottle and use the timer. This is the change that makes the biggest difference after dark.
The finishing touches
8. A small garnish tray. Two seasonal syrups (cranberry, spiced honey; store-bought is fine) and a bowl of dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks and fresh cranberries. People can actually make something with it. Keep it on one tray so it looks deliberate, and refresh the cranberries each week.
9. Two flameless candles. LED pillars (on Amazon) of different heights on the lower shelf, or a couple of mercury glass votives, which reflect the string lights nicely. No real flames next to a shelf of alcohol, and keep any candle a few inches away from the garland.
10. A throw over the handle. A small plaid throw or scarf draped over the push handle, the same way you’d put one over a sofa arm. It softens all the glass and metal and ties the cart to the rest of the room.
11. Putting it back in January. Garland coiled, ornaments in tissue, trees nested together, lights wound up, napkins stored flat. All of it fits in one small box, apart from the throw. Label it so next year’s setup takes ten minutes.