Black bar carts, compared

Black is the finish for a cart you did not entirely want. In a room with dark furniture a black frame reads as structure rather than as an object, which means the cart recedes and the bottles on it become the visible thing. If you like your bottles and are ambivalent about the furniture, that is exactly the right trade.

The pick is the Nathan James family's Sally: 28 by 19 inches, the largest working surface in our library, on a 34 inch frame rated to 66 lb. If you build drinks rather than pour them, working room is the specification that matters.

What black is good at

• Not competing. A gold cart is a decorating decision. A black one is furniture. In a room that already has enough happening, that is worth something.
• Wearing invisibly. A scratched black finish shows metal, which reads as wear rather than as damage. A scratched gold finish shows a different color, which reads as damage.
• Costing less. Consistently. The same frame in black is usually cheaper than in gold, for the reasons in why bar carts are expensive.

What black is bad at

Dust. More than any other finish, and worse with glass shelves, because the dust sits on a dark surface under a light one. This is the single complaint that comes up about black carts and it is entirely fair.

It is also the least forgiving background for the mismatched bottles a real bar cart accumulates. A gold frame with a warm room absorbs a lot of visual noise. A black frame with glass shelves shows every label, every fill level and every mismatch, which is fine if you like the collection and unflattering if you do not.

The four, briefly

Nathan James Sally. 28 by 19 inches, 34 tall, 24 lb, 66 lb capacity. The most working room here by a distance, and a footprint that will not tuck anywhere.

Nathan James Carter. 24 by 17 inches, 29 lb, 55 lb. Heavy for two shelves because the glass is doing the work, and the heft means it does not wander while you pour.

HOOBRO BF35TC01. Three shelves at 12.8 inches deep, 55 lb each, with lockable wheels. The shallow one, for a hallway.

HOOBRO BF56TC01. Two shelves, 16.7 lb, 44 lb each. The cheapest and lightest of the four, and the easiest to be wrong about.

Black or gold?

Gold if the cart is meant to be seen; black if it is meant to work. Gold carries a price premium for the finish alone, and it needs a tray to protect the edges. Black costs less, hides its own wear, and shows dust. There is no wrong answer, but the room usually has an opinion — see how to choose a finish for a method that is more reliable than a mood board, and the gold roundup for the other side.