Where’s the Bar?

If you have been following me, you will know that this lady loves her cocktails! 😉  Some of my favorite posts have been the Crimson Kiss, the Salty Bunny, and most recently The Clover Club.

When we reconfigured our kitchen, we lost our “bar area”.  Now, don’t get too sad for the signature cocktail queen.  It was a 26″ wide by 24″ deep section of the kitchen that had a wine fridge below and a glass case of “some” of our stemware above.  It was stuck in the corner of our kitchen which was not the ideal location to be serving from for a party larger than 4!  It was a congestion nightmare.

So when our contractor suggested we move our refrigerator to that corner of the kitchen, making room for the new range and hood, I did not argue or throw a fit.  We assessed the new layout thinking of all the possibilities of where to put that wine fridge. In the pantry?  No, that would take up a good 1/4 of the storage.  On the opposite wall?  Then you would see it when you walked into the room (vs. Dan’s beautiful cabinetry).   I decided, in the island, at the end next to the breakfast nook would be best.  That would be the new location for our “wine serving” area.  I mean, who doesn’t love a little wine with breakfast? Ha! Oh my!

Now that the “wine location” was solved, where was I gonna shake up my cocktails?

Where will I shake up a cocktail?

French Bakery Shelves

After our kitchen remodel was complete, we started moving all our stuff back into the space.  I restyled our new bookshelves in the family room, post here, and did a Facebook LIVE with Lauren Sinha, video here.  The rug, furniture and the side tables were all moved back in.  But, I hadn’t styled my french bakery shelving unit yet (Emerson bookshelf) and thought, “Hey!  This could be where I display a little bar area, equipped to shake up a lil’ somethin’ when having friends over!” (or just for us at the moment, thanks to the Covid-19. *sigh*).  Perfect!

Before

With the purpose of this shelving unit decided, I got to work!  I started bringing in trays, glassware, bar accessories, and books.  I grabbed bowls for finger foods such as nuts or dried fruits and my beautiful Anthropology wine decanter from my sister that doesn’t get any use when hidden in the garage or a china cabinet.

Slowly, the purpose and meaning for each shelf started to take shape.  And not just function, but the form or arrangement had to be appealing too!  Where there is something pink on one shelf, I wanted to have a splash of pink on the other shelves.  I placed a stack of pink colored napkins (useful and pretty), on one shelf, and added a solo napkin hanging on the shelf above it, to catch all the “drippies”.  By doing so, your eye moves around the shelves from one pink object to the next.

An artist is a visual control-freak.

Another repeating element is patterns of black and white–whether stripes, polka dots, leaves or words on the spine of a book.  Just like in art, you want the viewer’s eye to travel from one place to the next.  It adds interest and gives your arrangement balance.  I bet you never thought of an artist as a visual control-freak before now, did you?! 😉

Top Shelf

Small bowls to grab for individual snacks, pretty beer glasses that have been in a box since I bought them are ready to be filled by that growler from Market of Choice.  Nut bowls and a decanter that can be filled with your favorite red wine and left to breath while you are prepping snacks. Pop of pink: my faux peonies arrangement in a vintage milk glass vase.

Middle Shelf

Straws for a pop of color and ready to put into a cocktail, another snack bowl, in the back a framed vintage piece my grandmother stitched, similar to the ones I have in my built-in bookshelves in the same room, and a large tin beverage tray, holding “all the drippies” (cocktail stir glass, a beautiful St. Germain premade beverage container, stir sticks and a cocktail shaker.)  Pop of pink: the straws and the cloth napkin, ready to catch the drippies!

Bottom Shelf

On the bottom shelf, there are more cloth napkins, wine glasses, an antique toast holder (who knew there were toast holders?!) NOW holding cocktail napkins, and my ice bucket ready to hold ice for the beverages OR a little bottle of bubbly.  (Although, I will have to add a cloth towel under, so it doesn’t drip all over the wood shelf and down onto the baskets below that hold our blankets!). Pop of pink: the cloth napkins!

Voila! (After)

And that, my friends, is a shelf full of spirits possibilities galore!

The room is finally feeling more like home.  But it won’t feel 100% like home until we have friends in it, talking, eating and laughing together. (and yes, watching American Idol 😉 We love that show!)

Now, who’s ready to come over and have me pour you a drink?!!!!

xo, Melissa