Bar Carts and Serving Carts for Hosting at Home

At most parties the drinks stay wherever the bottles are, which is usually the kitchen counter. A bar cart moves them. Wheel it beside the sofa for cocktails, park it by the dining table for coffee and dessert, or leave it against a wall with a few bottles, an ice bucket, and a stack of glasses, ready for whoever pours next. Over the holidays it saves a good many trips back to the kitchen.

The classic bar cart is open, two or three shelves of mirror or wood on a slim metal frame, with racks for wine and holders for stemware. Serving carts add drawers, a cupboard, or a leaf that folds up, and the rest of the year they make a coffee station or a spare counter.

One of these is made for the patio, though it works indoors as well.

HOMCOM Drop-Leaf Serving Cart With Wine Rack

Fold the leaf up and the HOMCOM gains a second serving surface, enough for a cheese board beside the drinks, then drop it again when the cart goes back against the wall.

Below the top are two small drawers for bottle openers and cocktail napkins, a slatted rack that holds wine bottles on their sides, and two wooden crates at the bottom for mixers or a bag of lemons. The white frame and pale wood look at home in a cottage kitchen, and the cart rolls into the dining room when guests arrive.

VASAGLE Gold Bar Cart With Mirrored Shelves

The classic bar cart, done in gold. Two mirrored shelves reflect the bottles standing on them and the lamplight around them, which gives a corner the look of a mid-century cocktail party.

Stemware hangs upside down from holders under the top shelf, wine rests in a curved rack beside them, so the cart can stay by the sofa all evening. Keep the top simple, a few good bottles, an ice bucket, and a stack of glasses, and let the gold carry the look.

HOMCOM 16-Bottle Mobile Bar Cart

With its big spoked wheels, the HOMCOM looks like a flower seller’s cart, which makes it fun in a dining room or a home bar. Bottles go into a tower of round cradles in the middle, some lying down and some standing, so a wine collection is on display instead of shut in a cupboard.

Small shelves around the cradles hold glasses, a corkscrew, and a bowl of olives. The black frame and pale wood shelves suit a room with industrial lighting or a brick wall.

FATORRI Walnut Bar Cart With Wine Rack

FATORRI wrapped rails around every shelf of this cart, so a bottle of gin can ride from the kitchen to the living room without sliding off the edge. That is the detail to care about on a cart you plan to move with full bottles on it.

The middle shelf has a rack for wine and a holder for stemware, and the bottom one has space for tall bottles and mixers. Dark walnut-toned shelves on a black frame give it a rustic workshop look that suits a farmhouse dining room or a loft.

HOMCOM Serving Cart With Wine Rack and Stemware Holder

This white cart keeps most of a home bar behind its doors. Glasses hang by their stems from bars on an open shelf, wine bottles slide into a grid of square cubbies, and the cupboard below hides the mixers, the shaker, and the spare napkins.

The bamboo top is a good place to slice limes, or to set out a jug of water and a bowl of ice. The handle at the side holds a tea towel.

VASAGLE Barnet Bar Cart With Wine Rack and Glass Holders

A narrow cart for an apartment, the VASAGLE Barnet fits the gap between a sofa and a window. Bottles and glasses slot into the top shelf, and S-hooks along the sides hold coffee mugs or a bar spoon, so it can be a coffee station in the morning and a drinks trolley at night. A rail around the bottom shelf keeps jars and bottles in place as it rolls. Rustic brown shelves on a matte black frame go with most furniture.

HOMCOM Rolling Bar Cart With Wine Rack and Cabinet

In a kitchen short on counter space, this HOMCOM is a small charcoal cabinet on wheels with a bamboo-grain top, part bar and part pantry. Wine bottles lie in a rack on one side, glasses hang by their stems beneath the top, and a drawer and a cupboard keep tumblers and a cocktail shaker together. Put a coffee machine on top and it becomes a breakfast station.

HIFINE Outdoor Wicker Bar Cart With Glass Top

Made for the patio, the HIFINE cart carries drinks out to the pool or the barbecue and back in again when the evening cools. Gray wicker wraps a steel frame, and the top is glass that wipes clean after a spilled spritz. There is an open shelf for an ice bucket above a cupboard for cups and napkins, and the cart rolls on wheels that turn in every direction. It looks just as relaxed in a sunroom or on a covered porch.

Setting Up a Cart

Park the cart where people gather, near the sofa or the dining table, but out of the path to the kitchen, and lock the wheels once it is in place. Keep heavy bottles on the lower shelf, which keeps the cart steady when it moves, and glasses above. A tray on top collects drips and makes it easy to clear at the end of the night. Between parties, a cart can hold coffee things or serve as extra space beside a sideboard.