Things No One "Needs"

For starters:



A cupcake stand. Not inexpensive, given what it is -- Fred Flare provides them -- but imagine a birthday party with one of these at each place setting.

An alternative is a small cake plate, like these at Crate and Barrel. Even more personal but still smaller (perhaps for petite fours?) are individual butter dishes (also Crate and Barrel.) A quick romp through ebay or your favorite vintage site will unearth decorate butter servers in an array of colors and designs. Use them for actual butter during a dinner party or put small desserts - cupcakes, tarts, petite fours, etc - at each setting for a pretty and yummy surprise.

The other thing no one needs?

A good old fashioned bar. Due to copyright restrictions I can't post an image of the one I lust after, but I can post a link. In lieu of the space/finance restricted Ostrich Bar, I'll be picking up and hacking this:

Yes. It's a changing table. It's the Hemnes Changing Table from Ikea, actually. A light sand on the finish, some putty in the screw holes, a coat of paint or stain and a funky application to the interior of the tray and visible back wall of the top shelf, and it will be a nicely weighted bar to replace the $25 not-very-sturdy bookshelf that is currently the home to our liquor. Why not get something fancy with cubbies for wine bottles, you ask? Because ideally, white wine is kept in a chiller and red wine is kept in a closet/chiller at a slightly warmer temperature. Over the fridge, in a bookshelf that is exposed to temperature variations, or anywhere else that might expose the wine to the elements is a Bad Idea unless said wine is going to be served a few days after being placed in one of those places. Also, they're not cute, they restrict organization to less-than-efficient configurations, and they're generally over-priced.

I'm going to steer clear of any kind of tile-mosaic for the tray, too. Nothing shows spills like lines of grout. The bottom will be lined with a nice brushed stainless. Perhaps these, available at interior51:


Alright... time to get my bar in order so I can throw a dinner party and serve mini-cupcakes in vintage butter dishes!


PS - embritadesign.com has been reserved and is coming soon.