Bar carts have become really popular home decor items over the last decade or so, and it’s easy to see why. They blend functionality with style, making them a beautiful addition to any home.
Of course, bar carts are great for their intended purpose – portable drink service stations. They’re an elegant way to store and display drink bottles, mixers, glasses, stirrers, cocktail shakers, bottle openers, straws, and so on.
But even if you’re a non-drinker, a bar cart can be an amazing addition to your home. So what other uses are there for bar carts?
Whether you’re a cocktail enthusiast or looking for creative ways to style and organize your home, here are 24 creative bar cart ideas for your home.
Unique Bar Cart Ideas For Your Home
Here are my favorite bar cart ideas:
1. Tea, Coffee & Snack Station
Since bar carts are traditionally stocked with spirits and glassware, they make for great coffee/snack stations and tea trolleys. Swap out the liquor bottles for coffee beans, a French press, a selection of syrups, your favorite teas, mugs, a kettle, and so on, to create your very own one-stop shop for refreshments. You might also like to add a cookie jar or some snacks for your guests or children to enjoy. For bonus points, add side plates, napkins, and a mini trash can.
2. Library on Wheels
For book lovers, a bar cart can serve as a charming mobile library. Load up your cart with your favorite books and you can wheel it into any room you want!
This portable library solution works well in bedrooms and guest rooms, living areas, toilets, or even tucked away in a quiet corner to become a reading nook. It’s also a charming addition to children’s rooms, keeping bedtime stories and beloved picture books within easy reach.
3. Game Station
If you’re into your board games but you don’t need an entire gaming room, why not transform your bar cart into an entertainment hub by converting it into a game station? Organize board games, decks of cards, and puzzles neatly on the shelves. Include essential accessories like dice, pencils, and scorecards for impromptu game nights with friends and family.
Perfect for rolling out on games night, like Jen from Tatertots & Jello does here.
4. Guest Room Supply Station
Wow your guests with a thoughtfully curated bar cart stocked with all the supplies they might need during their stay. Stock it with essentials such as folded towels, toiletries, and a selection of snacks. Add a small vase of fresh flowers or a scented candle for a welcoming touch.
Whether you use your bar cart for overnight visitors or as a thoughtful touch in a rental property, this setup will guarantee your guests feel pampered and well-cared-for during their stay. Practical sophistication!
5. Bathroom Storage
In bathrooms where space is at a premium, a bar cart is a stylish alternative to conventional storage solutions. Use it to organize toiletries, sanitary products, beauty products, towels, and useful bits and bobs like cotton pads.
The bar cart’s open layout is super practical because it enables you to see all your beauty or makeup products at once and grab anything you need. It can also become a decorative focal point itself with just a little bit of thoughtful styling. For example, you could display jars of bath salts, a stack of plush towels, and a small tray holding skincare favorites to create a luxurious spa-like vibe.
For some gorgeous bathroom bar cart inspo, see how Anna of Ask Anna styled her cart.
6. Dining Room Essentials
Maximize efficiency in your dining area by repurposing a bar cart to store dinnerware, cutlery, and condiments. Arrange plates, glasses, napkins, and utensils on the cart’s shelves for easy access during meals.
This setup not only saves you from traipsing back and forth between the kitchen and dining room, but also adds a touch of sophistication to your dining experience like our dining bar cart here.
7. Laundry Room Organizer
Add a touch of class to your utility or laundry room by using a bar cart as an organizer. Use this extra storage space to house laundry essentials like dryer sheets, washing powder, pegs, and so on.
8. Entryway Drop Station
If you’re short on space in your entryway or hallway, a bar cart is a great storage solution.
On the top tier, you could use a decorative bowl as your key drop zone and keep a notepad and pen for last-minute shopping lists. It also acts as a spot to place your purse while putting on your shoes!
On the other shelves, you might like to keep a supply of grocery bags to grab on your way out the front door, your dog’s leash and other dog-walking supplies, purses, hand sanitizer or wipes, face masks, and any other useful bits and pieces. You could also have a basket for hats, scarves, and gloves.
Add some flowers, photos, or other ornamental pieces to maximize style.
9. Potting Bench
Now here’s a cool idea for using an old bar cart… turn it into a potting bench on wheels!
I did this in my greenhouse, using a retro rolling cart as a side table and plant holder. If you ask me, it brings a touch of elegance to my greenhouse and it’s super practical too!
10. Charging Station
Another modern and practical use for bar carts – charging stations!
If your family is anything like mine, you have enough devices to fill a whole electronics store! And if you care about home decor, you’re probably not a big fan of trailing wires. Parking a bar cart in front of an electrical outlet is a great way to keep all those ugly leads out of the way. It’ll also help you to keep an eye on your children’s screen time.
Designate different shelves for phones, tablets, and other devices, and use cable organizers, paper racks, or baskets to keep cords tidy. This way, you’ll bring a bit of sophistication to your home organization.
11. Craft or Homework Cart
Whether you home school or you just have creative children, bar carts can be a great place to keep all their stationery supplies neat and tidy, while maintaining a bit of style and sophistication!
Use containers to organize pens, pencils, paper, activity books, and so on, that can be lifted out onto a desk or the dining table when needed. Keep the bar cart in a designated spot, stationed next to a desk or the dining table, or keep it out of the way and roll it out whenever it’s needed.
Crafting has never looked so glamorous!
12. Children’s Toy Storage
In a similar vein, why not use a bar cart for your children’s smaller toys, like Legos and toy cars? You could keep it in the living room and periodically switch out the toys on it, so it always feels like they have something new to play with. Or keep it in their bedroom and use colorful bins and baskets to complement their decor.
13. Family Photo Display
Another option for repurposing a bar cart is creating a showcase of family memories and photos. Arrange framed photographs and sentimental mementos to make a vignette. You could even update it each season to celebrate holidays and milestones.
14. Office Storage
If you have a home office, why not use a bar cart to house your printer, scanner, or any other bulky equipment? You could also use it to store stationery, paper, and other office essentials and prettify it with books, framed prints, and plants.
15. Nursery Storage
To bring a bit of glamor to your nursery, use a bar cart to store diapers, wipes, clean onesies, and other useful bits and pieces. A bar cart is certainly going to be more stylish than one of those bulky plastic pieces of furniture!
16. Side Table
Bar carts make for perfect end tables and bedside tables, since they tend to be lighter and less bulky than a lot of pieces of furniture, providing contrast and variety.
Of course, you can then style your bar cart to both look beautiful and serve as a practical storage area. Consider adding a lamp, a tissue box, books, candles, plants, and framed prints.
17. Porch Package Drop Zone
Get really creative with your bar cart ideas! Create a drop zone for UPS or Amazon packages on the front patio with a bar cart.
It is a great way to add decor to the porch while having it serve a purpose and get those packages up off the floor.
Add outdoor plants, lanterns, and bits of nature as decor.
18. Roll-out Pantry
Alternatively, if you don’t have a pantry and you’re short on space, turn a bar cart into a mini pantry on wheels!
Use stackable containers and jars to store flour, pasta, rice, cereal, etc. Use baskets to keep sachets and condiments together. You could even get a rack to hold cans or bottles. Or even use it as a fruit and vegetable rack!
Keep the things you use most frequently on the top shelf and make sure they’re easy to access or lift out. Store bulkier items or things you won’t need as often on the bottom shelf.
If you’re going to keep your pantry-on-wheels where it can be seen, go for tasteful storage containers and use small touches like labels and ribbons for a cohesive look that complements your kitchen decor.
If you’re a keen baker, a bar cart would also be a great way to keep all your baking tools and ingredients in one place. You could keep it out of the way in a cupboard or use it almost as a decorative feature, and roll it out to bake.
19. Cleaning Trolley
Can cleaning be glamorous?! Use a bar cart to store all your cleaning essentials, like wipes, sprays, cloths, trash bags, and so on. Style it to look nice if you’re keeping it out, or roll it into a cupboard or under the stairs to keep it out of the way.
If your bar cart wheels fairly easily and the floor in your house is even enough, you could actually use it as a cleaning trolley like they do in hotels and wheel it from room to room as you clean, feeling like a very fancy housemaid!
20. Medicine & Utility Trolley
We all have those cupboards, drawers, and sometimes even worktops (!) full of random bits and pieces that don’t seem to belong anywhere. I’m talking shoe polish, baby wipes, birthday candles, spare batteries, napkins, seasonal decor, vitamins and medicines, band aids and bandages, rolls of various kinds of tape, light bulbs, sewing kits, coupons, and so on!
I’ve used an all-purpose storage pantry for these kinds of items in the past, but another option would be to house them together on a utility trolley of sorts.
Organize and group items where possible but, for the most part, you’ll probably just want to stow the various objects in nice-looking containers to keep them out of sight but easily accessible.
21. Music Station
If you’re a big music lover, a bar cart could be the perfect place to house all your music-related items.
Put your record player, CD player, speakers, or other music-playing devices on the top of the cart. Use the lower shelves to store your music collection, whether that’s in the form of records, CDs, or even tapes. You could also keep headphones, jacks, leads, and other electronic items in a basket, so you always know where to find them. Alternatively, use headphone stands for a neat, modern look.
Add a touch of style by framing album covers or posters of your favorite musicians.
22. Houseplant Cart
Are you a houseplant parent with lots of beautiful plants, but not as many sunny places to keep them?
A bar cart is a great way to layer and display your plants in that one location that helps them thrive. Of all the bar cart ideas, this may be my favorite and most frequently used.
23. Pet Station
If you have a pet, perhaps you could use your bar cart to store all of their belongings.
For example, if you have a dog, you could keep the things you need easy access to on the top shelf: collars, leads, poop bags, balls, etc. You might also want to store their treats, medications, toys, bowls, and so on on a lower level; just make sure your dog can’t get at anything they shouldn’t have access to! If you have a small space like a cupboard under the stairs, a pantry, or a utility room, you could roll the bar cart in and out as you need it, since it’s unlikely to be the most aesthetic piece of furniture in your home!
24. Pure Decoration
Bar carts don’t have to be useful to earn a place in your home! Generally speaking, bar carts tend to be stylish and beautiful, so they can be used as decorative focal points almost anywhere in your home. All you need is a selection of decorative objects to arrange.
I’ve styled my gold bar cart with a gorgeous array of houseplants, but you could decorate yours with candles, books, artwork, ornaments, or any other decorative items that would complement your decor. Play with textures, height, and colors to create visual interest.
Mallory of Style Your Senses likes to keep her bar cart current with the seasons. For example she styled hers with fresh lemons, limes, and mixers for Spring. Jessica Garvin’s Christmas and Halloween bar cart ideas are also great examples of seasonal decorating with bar carts.
How Will You Use Your Bar Cart?
There are so, so many different things you can use bar carts for if you have no need for a home bar or drinks trolley. Whether you just like the way they look or you want to use them for storage space, bar carts are a sophisticated alternative to the more standard items of furniture. And because they roll and are fairly lightweight, it’s super easy to move them to a different location and use them for a different purpose whenever you have the desire to switch things up or for special occasions.
Use these bar cart ideas creatively throughout your home. I’m sure there are even more unique ideas waiting to be discovered. Share your favorite bar cart ideas below and tell me how you’ve styled yours!
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