apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have a beautiful full vintage cocktail set, as well as a few vintage shakers, but keep them hidden until after college. I want to save them until the parties I am having deal with a less rowdy crowd... They are gorgeous, and I'd rather save them to display and perhaps use full time when they will be appreciated and have a finer home, rather than run the risk of having them broken now!

Before the Mad Men 60s craze, I picked up a set (8) of the exact same lowballs in the picture above for a friend's housewarming. I love to remind them now how they're trendsetters. Considering I got them at a flea market for maybe $1 a piece, I can only imagine what they'd be worth now.

I've been considering acquiring a tray on a folding stand as a bar setup - I already have the ice buckets and vintage tools/shakers - just need some decanters and highball & rocks glasses.

i've been searching for a cocktail set now that i have my beautiful new sideboard.

it might be something to mention to Santa Mom! :-)

If anyone is looking for something like this, I know just the place--- Bloodline on Hester Street on the Lower East Side. The owner specializes in vintage barware. And everything is reasonably priced and pristine.

Booze on display with children, one teen and one edging in that direction, no thanks!

How could any home be complete without an awesome cocktail set?

I love cocktail sets -- but one has to remember that excessive alcohol consumption tends to go along with them. The guys on Mad Men have a few problems with that, don't you think? All my parents' friends had them -- and cocktail hour did get a little out of hand. Having said that, I inherited a set of vintage highball glasses from my grandfather, who raced horses. Horses pulling little racing carts decorate the glasses. They're cool beyond belief, but packed away. I can't imagine having a group over for highballs. No, my grandfather wasn't an East Coast WASP millionaire -- just a farmer in the Midwest who did well and enjoyed his success in later life.

I would love to have a rolling bar cart -- not just for a cocktail set, but because it would come in handy for any kind of entertaining.

The best bar for a man is the ad hoc collection of liquors sitting on top of a side table by the living or bedroom window, some mixers, ice bucket and most importantly a couple of quality, heavy double-old fashioned glasses. That's all you need. Everything else (including shakers, trays, etc..) is fluff intended to impress guests.

funny. i think my wife had the very glass in sterling's hand (above) for sale as a set in her etsy shop (modapple.net). i'm now thinking that maybe her price was too low!?

I'm working on compiling it. I have quite the collection of vintage shot glasses and some lovely lowball glasses. No decanters, and I don't have much of a desire for them.

I bought my boyfriend a nice but not vintage cocktail set. It is sleek and not too girly, which a lot of vintage sets seem today. I also sent him several glass swizzle sticks (I have a set as well.)

I have long shared AustinSarah's desire for a bar cart and just found one! Sadly, it is currently at the bf's house (across the country) until I convince him that it can be shipped from California to Virginia.

Can anyone recommend a mid-centry or geometric style wine rack in chrome, ss, or nickel

Target has this, seems pricey. Rest of stuff on market looks like curly cue log-irons

http://www.target.com/Polished-Aluminum-X-Wine-Rack/dp/B000BQY6VM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&frombrowse=0&node=1038576&keywords=wine%20rack&field_browse=1038576&searchSize=30&id=Polished%20Aluminum%20X%20Wine%20Rack&field_availability=-2&refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Ctarget_com_age%2Ctarget_com_gender-bin%2Ctarget_com_character-bin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchNodeID=1038576&field_launch-date=-1y&searchRank=price&searchPage=3&field_keywords=wine%20rack

I have a vintage 1930s medical cabinet that I use as a bar, along with a few sets of vintage glasses that I've purchased along the way. I also was given a beautiful powder-coated shaker with four shot glass sized glasses that also dates to the 1930s or 1940s and came in a custom monogrammed leather case (not with my initials since its vintage). A picture of my bar can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14814891@N07/4074902907/