The first time I ever saw a bar cart, I was abnormally excited about the thought of having all of my barware centrally located and spread out amongst cabinets, bookshelves, and various nooks and crannies. I looked forever for the perfect bar cart and I actually managed to find a few that fit the bill. I wasn't too keen on the very heft price tag, and so I went on the search for a bar cart DIY....nailed it.
I've been eyeing up bar cart's for a long time, but I could never bring myself to spending the type of money required to get a good one. Finally about a month ago I found a DIY from RandiWithanI and thought I might be able to expand on to make the bar cart I was looking for.
It starts with the Bygel Utility Cart from Ikea which is basically the cheapest thing in the world and looks very utility-cart-ish. Confession: I'm terrible at building Ikea furniture...or really, any furniture. One time at work I was assembling a toaster oven (not furniture, but same concept) and my boss (who was fantastic, by the way) was watching my struggles from his office. Finally, after a solid 5 minutes of struggling he came out of his office and exclaimed loud enough for the office to hear, "Ladies and Gentlemen...she can build buildings, but can't put together a toaster oven..." It was one of my favorite moments.
Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Flat Gray : Primer
Priming is an important step when you're painting over metal. It helps the paint adhere to the surface and saves you from roughing up the surface. I like to use a gray primer (light or dark depending on the paint color) because I find that the resulting color ends up with a better quality than it would with a white primer. Make sure you prime the cart and the shelves.
Krylon Metallic Paint : Copper
Once the primer is dry, it's time to paint the cart the final color. For me, that was copper. Copper is having a huge resurgence right now and I'm in love. I've always loved having metallic finishes in my home, so this is bound to fit right in. This cart and shelves took one coat, the wine rack and stemware holder (which you should also prime) took two because of the little pieces. Lesson Learned: I did not use a clear coat over this, but realize now that I should have.
Ikea Stemware Holder / Target Threshold Wine Rack
Following RandiWithAnI's lead, I picked up the stemware holder from Ikea (you can find that in the kitchen accessories area, generally in a large basket) and the wine rack from Target. I then used Gorilla Glue to adhere the wine rack to the bottom shelf and the stemware holder to the bottom of the middle shelf. Lesson Learned: Read the instructions on Gorilla Glue. Apparently it needs the surface to be wet and you shouldn't get it on your clothes. My sweatpants now have a permanent Gorilla Glue spot.
Once the glue is dry, you're done! You can start filling up your bar cart with your items! I had recently gotten that 'In Wine There is Truth' box from a friend for Christmas and it's the perfect little holder for my wine stops. The crystal decanter I purchased at an antique store in Southern Missouri this summer. And the Stella glasses are from their Buy A Lady A Drink Campaign which provides clean drinking water to third world countries when you purchase a goblet.
The total cost for this project was around $70 which is still about half the cost of what I was going to spend on a good bar cart.
This article was written by Candice Whitney, author of She's Leaning In Blog, beauty enthusiast, fashionista, and designer at large. She's Leaning In Blog focuses on beauty and home product reviews, ideas, and the occasional DIY along with outfit recommendations for the masses. Follow along with Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Bloglovin' and Pinterest.
All pictures should be linked and credited to She's Leaning In, property of Candice Whitney.
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