3 High-End Home Features Perfect for Afternoon Tea

Published on 19 May 2023

Everyone loves to taste the high life. You know the types of experiences; the ones the other half get to sample on a regular basis:

• cocktail bars
• exotic holidays
• afternoon tea at The Ritz with the social elite (or, in your case, Sam and Laura from university)

The problem is, these activities are expensive and force you to travel. Moreover, even cream tea is a social minefield. Imagine the humiliation of using the wrong cake fork. (Don’t even joke about it.)

Host experiences yourself at home using a tailor-made kitchen dresser unit, however, and you can channel Marie Antoinette to your heart’s content, unconcerned by costs, drama or inconvenience.

Vital for those who want to live in luxury without spending like the 1%, these dressers allow you to save money long term, live like a high-end hotel resident, and stop having to worry about a whole teashop gasping as you dunk biscuits in your tea (you monster).

Hosting High Tea

Let’s start with day-time events like high tea. The main difference between afternoon tea and high tea is that we serve the former at 4:00 pm and the latter at 5:00 – 7:00 pm—but both can count as cream tea as long as they include scones. Other than that, they’re much the same: cake, finger food and scandalous gossip whispered from behind brisé fans.

You can create a fantastic experience on all fronts using a Masterclass Breakfast Dresser. Originally designed to house tea, coffee and breakfast paraphernalia, this handy cabinet is more than just a tea and coffee station; it’s a high-end teahouse in a fold-away box.

Altogether, your dresser can gather bone china, scones, coffee, toast, red velvet cake and more, all in one convenient place. And what’s more, the entire display, available in hundreds of styles and colours, can disappear behind bi-fold doors—perfect for when you need clean lines at a moment’s notice.

Wine-Tasting Experiences

Cake and Earl Grey are wonderful conversation antifreeze for sophisticated daytime company, but sundown often calls for something stronger. How about a wine-tasting experience? It’s basically afternoon tea for nightlife lovers.

If you think creating a bespoke vineyard session at home is impossible, you’re mistaken. Indeed, our Bar Dressers have all the versatility of a wine storage cabinet and a home bar unit. Armed with a drink shelf and a hanging wine glass rack, they’re ideal for showing off your finest Chards and Merlot.

And if that isn’t enough, you could always include a wood-effect wine drawer in your kitchen range. Top-lit by LEDs and oozing craftsmanship, this feature delivers extra space for your collection, displaying it in a unique cabinet that’s guaranteed to wow guests. It’s like having a wine cellar in your kitchen!

Designed for alcohol connoisseurs of all varieties, you don’t need to use your Bar Dresser purely to host wine-tasting sessions, either. Whether you make yours a cocktail cabinet or a whiskey cabinet, these high-end furniture pieces pair well with freestanding kitchen islands and interesting conversation.

Bespoke Luxury Holidays

As many of us discovered in the Great Lockdowns of 2020, there really is no good home replacement for a luxury holiday. That said, making the most of travel memories can extend the perception of an experience while providing amazing conversation fodder at afternoon tea or wine-tasting sessions.

Indeed, whether you want to immerse your guests in an Orient Express journey you once took, reminisce over French Polynesia, or simply marvel at your collection of Senufo tribal masks, our Display Dressers provide the best showcases.

The ultimate curio cabinet, with LED spotlights and a reflective back, these mirrored cupboards are the chameleons of kitchen furniture. Yes, they can hold travel mementos but also sparkling glassware, artisan odities or Marvel figurines—whatever complements your afternoon tea.

Thanks to space-saving wingline doors, yours can even make whatever you like to display vanish should you need a more minimalist backdrop. That way, you can tailor the cabinet to suit present company.

Tea Party Hosting Extras

Hosting a tea party is just the beginning when it comes to the opulent world of living in luxury. After all, we haven’t even started on banquets and garden parties, which sometimes require more functionality than a dedicated dresser can provide. We’re talking pantries, larders—the works!

Thus, if you’re an uber-host and want to live like a royal on a realistic budgets, find your nearest showroom and allow us to help. Or if you don’t need help right now but would love design tips, welcome guides and resources to help you live in luxury on a realistic budget on a regular basis, become a Masterclass Insider. It’s free!

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