Decor Favorites: Serena & Lily South Seas Rattan Bar Cart

In partnership with Serena and Lily.

On the heels of our recent move I’ve been contemplating my favorite home decor pieces that transition effortlessly from place to place. At the top of the list is my Serena and Lily south seas rattan bar cart. Inspired by a mid-century antique and rendered in a beautiful handwoven rattan it cuts an elegant silhouette with a fun-loving personality. I've loved Serena and Lily’s approach to laid back coastal elegance for years and they work with the best vendors and manufacturers in the business, so when I purchase an item I know it’s a well designed and high quality piece that we’ll enjoy for years to come - in fact, I have pieces from them in every room of our house.

I’ve had the Serena and Lily south seas rattan bar cart for three years and it’s traveled to three different homes with us. (Starting with our house in San Francisco, our Gramercy apartment, and our house in New Hampshire.) It comes in two sizes perfect for cozying up a corner of the living room or taking pride of place in a dining room. Ours is the 40” wide version, which is great for both apartment living and grander homes, and the castors allow it to travel with ease from room to room. I’ve even pulled it outside to serve drinks during a backyard barbecue and it’s doubled as a dessert table during a baby shower.

I wrote a post dedicated to styling this beautiful rattan bar cart when I first got it, but a general rule is place the weightier objects (both visual and actual weight) on the bottom shelf and lighter objects on the top shelf. I like to add a lamp for night time entertaining, keep enough glasses for my average party size (usually 4 or 6) on hand, and a few freshly pressed cocktail napkins at the ready. Then all you need is a little ice, mixing glass, and garnish and you’re good to go! When entertaining more formally, I love styling up the bar cart with ingredients for a signature cocktail, with a pitcher of the drink already mixed so guests can serve themselves. Even if you don’t use the bar cart for drinks, it looks beautiful piled with books, pottery and plants as well. I’ve even seen others place this rattan bar cart in their bathroom as pretty shelving for a stack of fluffy towels!

It’s my firm belief that every room needs a little rattan (or wicker!) and that conviction is even stronger now that we live on the coast. Serena and Lily wicker and rattan are so good because they’re the perfect neutral color (not too orangey like some!) and often use several different styles of weaving on the same piece which gives each item a handcrafted and elevated look. Other rattan pieces we own and love from Serena and Lily are the costa floor mirror and round rattan placemats. I also love their costa x benches, the charming wicker shades on their flynn wall sconces, these shore dining chairs and their new sea drift side tables which are perfect for placing a drink or dessert plate.

All sources at the bottom of the post. 

Other things that Serena and Lily just do so so well: upholstery and lighting! I especially love that they carry the Perennials line of performance fabrics, which are super luxurious and usually only available to the trade. Perennials fabrics resist staining, fading, mold mildew, what have you! They’re fabulous for the areas of your home that get a lot of use since they’re so resilient even if you have dogs or kids. Our large ottoman is a custom size upholstered in their Perennials french blue stripe (square ottoman here), and I’m hoping for a shipping update on the Serena and Lily piccadilly chair that I ordered in Perennials chambray shirting stripe any day now! I love the piccadilly chair’s handsome button tufting and can’t wait to put it in our bedroom - the quality of their upholstery is really beautiful and I’m eyeing having a second one made in the Perennials moss/sand dock stripe to go with my green needlepoint rug. They have a wonderful selection of timeless shapes like an English roll arm sofa or their eaton chairs and you can even order extra fabric by the yard if you want to use the fabric on other pieces around your house.

As for lighting, most or all of their pieces are made by Visual Comfort, which is simply the best in the biz. We own and love Serena and Lily’s fairmont chandelier (the large one) and it’s the perfect blend of a more traditional 8 arm chandelier with contemporary lines and the most beautiful off-white silk shades, which have a very flattering glow to them. Other lighting I have my eye on include this nautically inspired flush mount, this wicker lamp, these tailored brass sconces and a classic floor lamp!

SOURCES:

Serena & Lily South Seas Rattan Bar Cart c/o // Brunschwig and Fils Verrienes Drapes ( fabric here, also here) // Vintage Blue Opaline Lamps (similar here, here, here) // White Ceramic Garden Stool // Ralph Lauren Dangy Crystal Glasses // Williams Sonoma Single Old Fashioned Glasses // Antique Meissen Blue Onion Plates // Vintage Danish Tureen (mine in white, similar in blue)    

Thank you Serena and Lily for partnering on this post!