This summer DIY is essential for any good BBQ: a bar cart!

No summer BBQ is complete without a bar cart. It’s the perfect accessory for any party. You can buy a fancy one at the store, or spend a couple of Saturday afternoons scoping out garage sales and thrift shops to find a fixer-upper. Our DIY expert Kristina Barbee shows us how she transformed a bare bones bar cart into a masterpiece!

The Bar Cart Makeover

This is the before shot of the bar cart Kristina worked her magic on and a list of what you’ll need:

A bar cart – you can find an inexpensive one at a local thrift shop, like our resident DIYer did.
Acrylic paints in the colour(s) of your choosing
1/4 inch piece of plywood

Let’s go ahead and file this under another one of my infamous “projects that didn’t turn out the way they were supposed to” category. To be honest, I really should start a category on the blog for these kind of projects!

On thing was for certain with this project. When I found this bar cart for sale for about $15 at Goodwill, I knew it had to be PINK. *Cue the moan and groan of my boyfriend about this.*

I contacted the good people over at DecoArt, a manufacturer of high-quality acrylic paints, about this project and told them I’d turn this beast into a coral pink ombre beauty. But there was one problem…. I can’t do an ombre effect to save my life (as found out after wasting 3 bottles of paint and two days on this project).

I was determined to have this dang thing be pink because I apparently hate Cyle so much and enjoy torturing him (my assumption from his less than stellar attitude about this idea. Gotta love a supportive spouse, right?)

So instead, I tried color blocking!

I used a coral blush and white for this project. I also wanted something fun to add to this, so I grabbed a bottle of spray paint and sprayed a block of gold on the bar.

Before I even painted the bar, I added a layer of 1/4 inch plywood to the bottom for a shelf and added some wine hanging racks to the underside of the top shelf.

Ok, now for the best part: PICTURES!

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And because I love it so much, here is one more before and after!

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Just like that, you have the perfect accessory to go with your summer BBQs. Use it to display refreshing drinks, glasses and more. Best of all, you’ll be able to tell your guests you did it yourself!