Trending: The Ever-Elegant Bar Cart

A few weeks ago, I got the urge to add to my living room. I don't know if it was all the Mad Men I had been watching or the Southern belle in me, but I had to have a bar cart. No good hostess should go without one, and with my family coming into town, we rushed out to buy, assemble and stock (and empty, and re-stock) one right away. I'll show you mine first so it doesn't look so measley after all the inspiration images. After all, I'm not a professional photographer...yet.

I think we did a nice job. The cart and trays are from Ikea. Zach attached the wine glass rack in some special way so it would look like it came that way, but really all the attachments were bought separately. The coral (in my favorite color, turquoise) was a lucky find at Marshall's, but I was too cheap to buy it, so Zach surprised me with it the next day. The other little trinkets are gifts with special meaning to me. And the mirror was stashed away in my closet, but I was desperate to find a place for it and it ties the cart in with the rest of the room nicely.

Here are some images of beautiful and unique bar carts, which I will someday recreate when I'm no longer on an Ikea & Marshalls budget.

Pretty:

Absolutely gorgeous, I have to have both:

 

Totally cool and unique, if I'd had more time I would have searched til I found the perfect piece to repurpose and put Zach to work. I'm jealous:

The next one is just beautiful. Industrial and nautical at the same time. With some bottles on the floor and a crate on the table, it doesn't look too hoity-toity. And everything looks repurposed, which I love.

And finally...this gem:

See the bar cart way back there? I love this whole room. It's just all my favorite things in one space. A comfy couch, modern chairs, a romantic chandelier and antlers! And...I spy a Kyle Bunting rug!

Moral of the story: Whether you get it at Ikea or an upscale store, or even at a flea market, whether you use it as a side table or a sideboard, whether you put your bottles on a tray or on the floor....you need a designated bar cart or table area in your home. They just make you look like you know how to throw a party. And they're pretty. So to help you get started, here's about a million to choose from.

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_search.php?C7=1#

Have fun!

Designer Profile: Kyle Bunting

It has come to my attention that in trying to challenge myself, I may have strayed from my own style in the last 2 posts. For my first designer profile, I chose Kyle Bunting, whose style and medium is more my taste than anything I can think of.

 I have recently seen his work in all of the design magazines that I subscribe to. His skull chairs, included in my Andy Warhol post, are often featured. With over 10 years of experience, this innovative designer uses hide in ways that have never been done before. Kyle's products include rugs, art, wallcoverings and furniture, all of which can be specified in any design, color and size. He and his team work out of their studio in the beautiful Texas Hill Country (jealous!). Readers in Dallas may recall his whimsical installation at the W Hotel.

What I love about his rugs is the use of a somewhat traditional medium mixed with contemporary designs and colors. His furniture employs classic shapes with original patterns. And of course, everything in his portfolio has incredible texture. Here are some of my favorites:

Rugs

Wallcoverings

Furniture & Upholstery

DO YOU LOVE HIS WORK AS MUCH AS I DO?

Dress My Nest: Andy Warhol

          

Another Dress My Nest post today! I think these are my favorite posts to do because they are somewhat of a challenge. It may also have to do with that fact that I used Paul Newman for the first one and he is my favorite person ever! I like scrolling through that post now and again just to admire the photos. Mmm....anyway, about today's post. Let me just say that Andy Warhol is not an easy person to find images of. You Google and you Google and all you find is his art. Which is awesome, but that leaves slim pickings for me to do a post like this. Here's what I was able to find:

Clothing/Accessory Items

1. Black Leather Jacket                                                  2. Eyeglasses

    3. Striped Shirt

Personal Items:

            1. Skull                                                                                      2. Hair



3. Tambourine

I would imagine Andy Warhol's home to be colorful, original and striking. That is what I tried to do here:

This is one of those times where it kills me that I can't actually execute these designs in real life. Once put together, I could either love it or hate it. But in my head it seems pretty great. This room would be pretty psychadelic and maybe uncomfortable for some people, but I take these posts to be practice for clients and don't necessarily make them in my style or yours. I do them in the style I think the "client" would like. So don't think I'm crazy....

Ok, I may have cheated a little. I had chosen a black leather Chesterfield but it just felt out of place, so I opted for this purple velvet one. The eyeglasses were translated into the lucite table (from 1st Dibs) and bench (by Jan Showers) and the striped shirt into the contemporary striped rug (Kyle Bunting). The skull chair on the right is also by Kyle Bunting and the one on the left is by Phillip Barlow. The Sputnik chendelier is the translation of his crazy hair and the tambourine can be seen in the metallic wallpaper. Art by Warhol. 

Here are some things I came across while compiling the collage. They're interesting, to say the least.

      

And finally...this wallpaper.

"Skull Wallpaper – Bronze Flock on Oil Slick. The signature paper featuring skulls in a reflective bronze, deep pile velvet on a incredible light-catching, iridescent base, using horribly expensive ink which changes colour as you walk past it – through reds, greens, blacks and golds – like an oil slick. Printed on non-woven paper."

Out of all the items in this post, would you put any of them in your home? Do you think this stuff is Warhol-esque?