The Rattan Bar Cart

One Kings Lane

I love a beautifully styled bar cart, especially rattan ones. The oversized green and white Chinese porcelain double gourd vase with palm fronds is quite dramatic. More green is carried through with the glassware and bowl of lemons and limes.

Here is another view.

One Kings Lane

Coastal Blue and White

Serena & Lily - Palm Beach

 

I love the coastal chic look and nobody does it better in my opinion than Serena & Lily. This picture is from their Palm Beach store. 

Creating a Chic Bar

John Fondas - House Beautiful

I absolutely adore a glamorous bar. This was once a closet in a Palm Beach apartment with accordion doors, drop ceiling, and fluorescent lights. Look at it now!

The Iconic Rattan Bar Cart

Maggie York

The rattan bar cart has become a decorating staple, and not just for the beach house anymore. Use it for liquor or wine of course, or as a coffee bar, as a bedside table, in the bathroom for towels and soaps, in the entryway, virtually anywhere in the house.

The Blue & White Chinoiserie Bedroom

Jonathan Adler - Elle Decor

 

This is a bedroom with so many ideas to inspire. I love the seating area at the foot of the bed with the pair of wicker elephants as side tables and the pair of side tables as a coffee table. The sofa is divine - stried, tufted, and bullion fringe. The pair of rattan bar carts as bedside tables is another favorite. Perhaps my favorite is the two different Quadrille chinoiserie patterns - Lyford Diamond Bamboo wallpaper and Paradise Background as a headboard. And as an aside, I am so delighted my house came with plantation shutters - simple, classic, private, easy, perfect for a tropical climate. 

Styling the Bar Cart

Meg Braff

 I love a rattan bar cart and this is a great idea for poolside, the lanai, or a beach house styled with towels and a water bar. The wallpaper is Meg Braff's Beverly Hills. Amanda Lindroth is a great source for wicker glassware.

Summery Blue and White

Alessandra Branca

 This lovely space is from last year's Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse Palm Beach. It includes so many of my favorites - a blue and white palette, seagrass matting, faux bamboo furniture, a rattan bar cart, a wicker hurricane, palm fronds, stripes, wicker lampshades, and a pair of very unique garden stools. The navy piping on the white cushions is a lovely detail. I may attend this year, but I believe one also has the choice of a virtual ticket. 

Palm Beach & Palms

Ellen Kavanaugh Interiors - Flower Magazine

 On Saturday I had my more than a dozen palm trees pruned  - cleaned up would be a more apt description - seed pods, dead fronds, and the like and the garden is very happy. This Palm Beach entryway combines a wall of botanicals by a local artist, a rattan bar cart, gleaming bare hardwood floors, an orchid, and a fabulous skirted table featuring Palma fabric by Christoper Farr. Palms take center stage with a view of the front yard, a potted palm in the living room, and this dramatic palm fabric.

Rattan bar carts are so versatile - perfect in this foyer style with candles, hurricanes, and books. I have three rattan bar carts and always have my eyes open for a new addition.

Outdoor Living

From House to Home

 I was researching outdoor curtains and came across a tutorial on this blog. Check out this amazing deck gazebo. Wow. I also love the flamingo topiary and the pink rattan bar cart. I have a rattan bar cart I am planning on spray painting navy blue for the lanai, but this pink is so fun.

The Blue and White Chinoiserie Bedroom

Shelley Johnstone Design & Courtney Petit Design

 

This lovely blue and white bedroom features Schumacher's Marella trellis wallpaper and fabric in Delft. A rattan bar cart works beautifully as a bedside table styled with a double gourd lamp. This home is in Highland Park, Illinois, just south of where I grew up in Lake Forest.

The Rattan Bar Cart/Today Show/Second Shot

Emily Painter Interiors

Did you see me on the Today Show this morning? I was interviewed by Gabe Gutteriez about problems getting the second Covid shot in Florida. BTW, I get my second shot this morning. Exciting morning!

I love a rattan bar cart, whether vintage or new. I have two - one in my lanai for accessories and a second in the guest bedroom as a bedside table. But there may be a new one in my future. 

Both of these are great deals. This Opalhouse Cassia Rattan Bar Cart is $150.00. I have many Opalhouse Target pieces and I have found the quality and style to be excellent.

Opalhouse Cassia Bar Cart

This navy blue one from Urban Outfitters would be perfect in my house and for any lover of blue and white chinoiserie and at $299 is a great price for a designer look. UO is a great source for rattan pieces.

Urban Outfitters Rattan Bar Cart

 PS - A follower kindly commented leaving the link for the Today Show here while I was out getting my second shot. Thank you!

Palm Beach Style

Emily Painter Interiors

My favorite purchase for my new house was definitely my canvas palm tree from The Canvas Nursery here in Florida. Palm Beach interior designer Emily Painter, formerly senior designer for Amanda Lindroth, uses a pair in her blue and white Worth Avenue apartment. 

Note the elephants, blue and white ginger jars, Amanda Lindroth island tray, rattan bar cart, and seashells - all faves of mine. A seagrass squares rug is a super economical way to dress up a floor, especially in a rental like this. You can buy the squares and stitch them together to form any size you require.

Styling The Bar Cart

Amanda Lindroth

 I love a great bar cart and lately am especially drawn to wicker and rattan ones with a tropical vibe. I have just added two to my home. Bar carts are not just for booze anymore - they make perfect bedside tables and sofa end tables. The one above is styled with a potted orchid topped with seashells, framed photos, books, a wicker lamp, and more seashells.

I love this one below and have to find that bar towel. The cart is styled with an Amanda Lindroth Island Tray in orange and AL wicker glasses too. I'm off to find that towel - LOL.

Lavin Label

Saturday Inspiration

Bunny Williams

 Someone commented yesterday asking how many bar carts I have. Isn't there a famous expression "You can't have too many bar carts or shoes"?

I personally think bar carts are very chic and functional which is a win-win. Besides a bar, use them as

*A bedside table

*A coffee bar

*A tea cart

*For towels and toiletries

*For serving

*For displaying objets

My new bar cart is en route to me and I'm looking forward to getting it. Above is wonderful styling of a rattan bar cart for entertaining. I love how she has included a couple of pieces of blue and white Chinese porcelain and orchids.

A funny story - I posted yesterday about wanting an Old Man Palm. Right after posting, I texted my landscape guy about seeing one at Lowe's. He told me in Miami and environs they charge in the thousands for one. He hopped in his truck and I hopped in my Audi and we flew over to Lowe's Venice and bought it and he delivered it back here to CCC. He is planting it in a couple of hours. 

I need a palm that can be planted close to the house for my side yard project and it will be ideal. 

Another funny story - "HomeGoods and Gardens." I needed a black urn for the backyard for a Eugenia topiary - I planted two stunning black elephant ears in the same area of the garden. I popped into HomeGoods yesterday and found this urn and moss. It cracked me up that I am even finding gardening items there. 

The weather here has turned perfect. It will be 80 degrees and sunny every day this next week. I could get used to this. I'm on vacation every day.

My new HG urn

Great Find

 

I found this rattan, cane, and raffia bar cart at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. If you sign up with them, you get 20% off plus free shipping bringing the price down to $128.00. Bar carts can be used for a zillion things beyond booze - I love using one as a bedside table, for example. This one has an Amanda Lindroth or Serena & Lily vibe going on at a great price point. I just ordered one for my guest bedroom. The black and natural colors gives it a British Colonial feel that I really like.

The one below is at Serena & Lily for $448.00 for the same size.

Styling the Lanai

CCC Lanai

Look who wandered into the lanai today. And please, no comments about rabid turtles - LOL. (Every time I post about wildlife, I get a rabies lecture. You'd think rabies was a pandemic. There has been ONE death from rabies in the history of this country from a rabid raccoon BTW).

The raffia turtle is huge and has a galvanized metal interior so he can be filled with ice and beverages for entertaining. My HG find yesterday. So cute. And to the person who keeps commenting complaining every single time I post about HomeGoods, please please please go away. Because HomeGoods is not going away. It's one of the few normal things I do away from my house nowadays. I am wondering how long it will take for HomeGoods to tap into the whole wicker/rattan craze in interior design. I can't wait.

BTW, the bar cart, wicker pineapples, calligraphy brushes, and tortoiseshell decanters are all from HG. I feel that the lanai has sort of a British Colonial island vibe that I like a lot. I love the idea of an orchid collection in the lanai too. Speaking of orchids, I have been reading up on growing orchids on trees and have received several questions on the subject and I have also had questions about my alligator topiary, so both will be the subject of tomorrow's post - God willing and the creek don't rise.

And from my garden this morning....

Chinoiserie Outdoors

Luxe Report Designs

I have always loved using blue and white Chinese porcelain outdoors and I love banana leaf, but the combination together for a lanai or outdoor area is really fabulous. Combining green with blue and white is a natural, but outdoors it really pops.

I discovered this quite accidentally when I happened upon a set of banana leaf outdoor cushions for my lanai dining set at HomeGoods. Here is a lovely example above combining banana leaf with blue and white Chinese porcelain, garden stools, and orchids. 

It occurred to me that my lanai would be a great location for an orchid collection. I might be on the lookout for another bar cart! And I am dying to try tying orchids to my trees. One follower sent me an article on how to do this. A neighbor of mine has many palms with orchids growing on them and it is quite a sight.

Here are shots of my new bromeliad bed. Several neighbors stopped by to admire it. 

Pink Bromeliads

Today another fun day in store in paradise - HomeGoods, Sushi Day at Publix, and stops at a garden center or two. I was disappointed that the Master Gardener program is on hiatus here because of the pandemic, but I am learning SO much just visiting garden centers, reading, and taking walks with the pups and seeing all the plants in neighbors' gardens. BTW, it took me minutes to plant the bromeliad bed. You can literally dig the holes with your hands - the soil is a wonderful sandy loam. In NOVA you could make pottery out of the clay soil.

Updates and Great Finds

Pottery Barn Kids Bailey Crystal Chandelier

For years I wanted a crystal ship chandelier, but never got one. I never really had a ceiling high enough for these massive chandeliers. Here is one at 1st dibs for $35,0000.

1st dibs

Last week I was playing around online and spotted this mini Pottery Barn Kids crystal pirate ship version on sale for $70.00 and free shipping. It arrived last evening. Too cute! It might go in my toilet room in the master bath - LOL - why not? Who doesn't want a crystal pirate ship while using the toilet I ask you?

I ran into my HG yesterday and found a Chinese Chippendale brown rattan bar cart for $79.99 and two gorgeous Ann Gish silk dupione pillow shams for $19.99 each that retail for $340 each. All are slated for the master bedroom.

The painters are getting down to the short strokes on the house and will be done by the end of the week. Tomorrow he starts lacquering the guest bathroom in the tandoori orange.

Yesterday I drove to four Home Depots to score enough of the huge globe lightbulbs for the ceiling fans. 100 miles of running around but they look amazing! I am on a mission.

This morning I am off to Michael's for liquid gold leaf as my painter is matching the frame of that massive mirror in the dining room to the Ralph Lauren gold leaf and crystal pagoda lantern that will hang in there.

And I did find a new handyman through my realtor that she has been using for years. I am on his schedule and he seems very nice.

One week from tonight I will be sleeping in my new home.

New topic for your assistance. BTW, I loved everyone's comments yesterday on the question of a TV in the master bedroom - very interesting. I am leaving the Pit Boss grill I own here with GG. Visually I don't want a huge barbecue grill in my new lanai. I just want something small and easy to use with minimal smoke and cleanup. I had an outdoor standing George Foreman electric grill before that I might replace. Any other thoughts? My lanai is not huge and looks out on those gorgeous preserves, so I don't want anything out there to take away from the view. I guess I could just pass on a grill entirely. And what is the deal with the Big Green Egg grills??? Am I missing something amazing? A Japanese style grill does have a certain CC appeal and they are very attractive.

Small Big Green Egg Grill

Here is an electric grill from Target in coral pink for $19.99!

MyMini Personal Electric Grill

The Chinoiserie Fireplace

Jeff Snyder via i suwanee

Here is an interesting idea for an unused fireplace - style it with a bar cart and a pair of ginger jars.

The Chinoiserie Living Room

Ballard Designs

Lots of favorites here - Chinese Chippendale chairs combined with a bar cart, a leopard bench, and a bird print.