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You know I have a thing for industrial, rustic pieces, right? Well, when I saw this little industrial kitchen cart in my local thrift store:
I knew it was going to be a perfect bar cart.
But going from the “before” to the “after” wasn’t a straight line. As with many DIY projects, I had to fail once before realizing how to succeed. Here’s how I turned this industrial kitchen cart into a bar cart.
Let’s start at the very beginning (it’s a very good place to start). I first gave the cart a good cleaning and sanded some of the rust off the top and legs. To clean it, I just used some mild dish soap and water. To sand the shelves, I used 150-grit sandpaper, then went back over it with 220-grit on my orbital sander.
I taped off the legs to spray paint the shelves. At first, I thought I’d leave the legs with some rust and wear on them.
If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen this picture of the progress:
With one coat of shiny red paint – looking good so far, right?
But, as you can see in the picture below, the legs looked dingy once the shelves were shiny and new-looking with the red paint. I used Rust-Oleum Gloss Apple Red
Hmmmm. I pressed on, though. I taped off a chevron pattern on the top and painted in the chevrons with gold paint.
I was liking it. Glam is not really my thing, but this seemed right to me. Well, until it didn’t.
I pulled off the tape and the gold paint peeled off with it.
What I think happened is that it rained in between coat 1 of the gold paint and coat 2. The humidity didn’t do it any favors, and off came the paint. Sigh.
I decided to take the peeling paint as a sign to start over and do this project right. This time, I took the cart apart.
A tetanus shot waiting to happen.
I scrubbed the legs (again) and all the screws and wheels in soap and water.
After a good cleaning, I spray painted the legs of the cart Rust-Oleum Antique White in gloss finish. That was the closest color to the original legs’ color.
Much better, right?!?
I re-sanded the top shelf to get rid of the gold paint. Then I tried painting over the chevron pattern, but it didn’t really work.
Time for Plan B. Instead, I painted over the chevron pattern with Rust-Oleum chalkboard paint
I just taped off the area and applied two coats of chalkboard paint. It covered the pattern. Whew!
I put the cart back together and now I have a fun, functional, upcycled bar cart!
I love the chalkboard top! And the bottom two shelves provide the perfect storage for bar accessories.
From dingy little industrial kitchen cart:
To the perfect bar:
Come on over for a glass of wine, ok?
A "recovering lawyer," I turned in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.
Super cute! Love the colors you chose and the chalkboard top.
Thanks, Brittany!!
I LOVE THIS! I especially love the chalkboard top. 🙂
Thanks, Kimberly!
OMGosh! I am so impressed! The chalkboard paint on top is just the best! I’m so glad it worked out that way. This is just beeYOOtiFUL!
Thank you, Sharon!
Perfection!! Talk about trash to treasure! 😀
Thank you, Mary!
Wow, this looks amazing! We’re looking to add a bar cart to our own home and this makes me want one even moreso, now. Great job!
Thanks, Leslie!
Wow, great transformation. I love your new treasure.
Angel
Thanks, Angel!
I have that same cart in the same condition. What was the red paint that you used? I’m trying to keep the piece as close to the original color as I can.
Hi Debbie, I used Rust-Oleum spray paint – Apple Red in gloss finish. Good luck!
I just stumbled across this and almost yelled loud enough to scare the neighbors! This is the EXACT tea cart we just pulled out of my grandmother’s house. It had been painted and repainted over the years so I spent a few days getting it stripped down to the original metal. The original color of my grandmother’s was a bright yellow. This will go in my mom’s house against her dark chocolate brown wall, I’m going to paint the entire cart a metallic gold (more coppery gold than brassy). I’m so excited that yours turned out well, I’ve been waiting for a clear day paint the cart before reassembling. Finding this post gets me even more excited!
Awesome!! I’m so glad. Please let me know how it turns out!!
I can’t believe it, but I just bought this exact cart last Saturday at an Army Surplus Store…yes, you never know where you’ll find a treasure! Mine has no wheels, though! Searching for the right replacement wheels. When I find them, I’ll know what to do with the rest of it! This is so neat! Thank you!
That’s awesome, Carol! What I would do is go to a local hardware store. We have an Ace Hardware that has all kinds of bins and buckets of such parts. Show them the cart and the spot where the caster should go and they should be able to help! Also, sometimes salvage yards can help if they have hardware. Good luck!