Home Update: Bar Cabinet

First things first, here’s the best part of this post.

I have good news, my friends! The ugly metal cart is OFFICIALLY OUT OF OUR KITCHEN!!!

Do you remember it? When we did house tour a few months after moving in, it was the only thing that really really drove me crazy. So it especially did ! (P.S., ignore the sad fiddle leaf fig in the corner. He’s also having a hard time.)

Our biggest hang up was not having a place to put the microwave! Even though our kitchen is pretty big (and a lot bigger than when we were in our 600 square foot apartment at the start of this year) it doesn’t have a whole lot of available counter space. At least counter space to put appliances!

Also, I didn’t want to have a giant black ugly box on our pretty white counters…! So I was determined to get a plug installed inside of our little cabinet pantry and put the microwave in there! We got that finished last week and I love it! Eventually we’ll put in an extra shelf but for right now I’ve got it sitting on one of these.

We knew when we moved in we wanted to replace the ugly metal cart with a bar cabinet of some sort. And We had a lot of trouble trying to find one that fit in. Some of the places we looked were Facebook marketplace and Craigslist for weeks but came up short. Mostly what we were finding were either antique pieces with dark wood and ornate designs. OR we would find beautiful mid century modern pieces that were like $1,300.

So we decided we should go new!

I was leaning towards getting some IKEA kitchen cabinets, throwing some legs on and calling it a day. But we couldn’t find cabinets that would fit flush to our cabinet pantry, or would be big enough to hold all our bar essentials ! Plus, I think AJ is scarred from our IKEA floating credenza we had in our apartment. It took us literally 8 hours and 3 trips to Lowes to assemble, so he’s not really keen on the DIY IKEA approach anymore. I can’t say I blame him!

The main places we hunted for a new bar cabinet were Target and the group of Wayfair/Overstock/etc. sites. Target has lots of farmhouse style furniture that I’m super not into. Most of their cabinets were chunky wood and lots of dark colors. They have suuuper cute bar carts, but we knew we needed more storage than that!

I’m trying to keep our home style between mid-mod, timeless pieces and a 70s, kind of boho vibe. Basically because I love rattan and bamboo and can’t stay away from them. So the chunky farmhouse that lives in Target had to go. We ended up finding this little number at Wayfair.

It was the perfect size and the perfect amount of storage. Aaand somewhat surprisingly easy to assemble! It only took us an hour or so. Luckily we had Turbo’s help.

Once we got it up and assembled, it was time to throw (nicely) our ugly metal cart into its new home – the garage! It’ll be a thousand times more useful in there, and fit in much better.

Look at that space!!! Just seeing it makes me so happy. We scooched the cart over and it fit perfectly flush against the cabinet pantry. I wasn’t sure what to put above it. We have this big beautiful painting from my friend Paige Yim next to it, so I didn’t want to put a competing art piece or photo above the bar. I decided on a hanging plant which I think fits peeerfect!! I used one of the hanging planter I used on our gallery wall!

Here’s the final product!!

Like most everything in our home, I styled it with a mix of thrifted goodies, new items (most likely from Target), and sentimental pieces! The decanters are from my great aunt, even the Bourbon chain! I love it!! The little shot glass was made by a fellow bridesmaid for my friend Paige’s bachelorette party!! Here’s where everything is from:

Ice bucket: Thrifted from Room Service Vintage

Pineapple Shaker: Thrifted from Goodwill

Bamboo tray: Target (I just tried to find it and it must be gone already!)

Decanters: Passed down from mom

Plant Hanger: Amazon (I hung them with a hook instead of rope)

You can see our last home tour here! I’m planning on doing a full updated one soon!! 🙂