STYLE AT HOME :: SUMMERTIME BAR ESSENTIALS

I’m so excited about the weather warming up in Connecticut because that means frequent hang-outs with friends and family and there is nothing we love more in the Joy house than hanging out and having parties. We make an effort to get together with family on Friday nights for pizza and then usually BBQ on Saturdays and/or Sundays. My favorite part of entertaining is always the prep, getting the house put in order and then creating fun little stations for our guests. I LOVE setting up a pretty bar for people to congregate around and help themselves. Our house has this perfect little built-in in our living room that I like to use as our bar, it gets people into an otherwise under-utilized room and I think it looks pretty underneath the shelves on top.

There are a few necessities that I think every bar should have and some extras that take it up a notch. In order of importance:

Obvi you need some form of alcohol: it can even just be one thing. In this case I had some tequila ready-to-go so people could mix that into the freshly squeezed margarita mix.
A mixer: a combination of juices works well or even two separate juices. I like to put them in clear carafes so people know what they are getting and it looks pretty.
A tray to put everything on: Even if you have a shelf like I do, the tray is kind of necessary to keep everything together and off the surface of your station.
Fresh fruit for garnish: I used a pineapple and some cut up limes in this set-up
Bar Hardware :: I had silver but I’m really wishing I had the gold collection from West Elm in the round-up below
Paper Straws: Paper straws always look pretty sprayed out from a canister and they kind of scream, “I’m at a party”
Coasters or cocktail napkins: Can we talk about these monogrammed pineapple linen napkins for a second, obsessed!!
Fresh flowers or ferns for decoration

I think you’re good with this line up improvising for things you have on hand, and perhaps buying a little something new from the collection below 😉