06 July 2014

Bar Cart: Before...

 Do you ever feel like you've got too many projects started and not enough completed? That's how I feel right now. So why not add one or two more to the list?

This cart is currently sitting in our garage awaiting a makeover. It is one of two carts which I brought home from my dad's garage last summer. As I was trying to decide what I could keep that would remind me of Dad, the two carts spoke to me. I wanted to keep items that would be useful, not just packed away in a box.

This cart actually belonged to my grandma (my mom's mom) who used it as a serving cart for our Sunday lunches. At Grandma's house, it carried shrimp salads and fruit plates. After she passed away Dad snagged it for his garage, where it lived a much rougher life as a tool caddy.

To fully appreciate where this cart came from, you must see the state of my dad's garage when I first started organizing prior to our auction. You can see the cart -- piled high with stuff -- in the lower portion of the photo. 

 After I organized his garage, I could see that the cart was quite a nice tool caddy, very handy to roll around while working working on projects. Dad actually had another cart just like it in a different building, complete with little hooks for his wrenches. I gave that cart to the neighbor boy who used to help Dad with his projects.

I thought about Grandma's cart all summer long and finally decided to keep it, along with a second three-shelf cart. I will be refurbishing the three-shelf cart for my craft room, using this "before/after" photo from Pinterest as inspiration.

I am planning to refurbish the tool caddy to use as a swanky bar cart. (Of course, it would work great for any type of beverage. Maybe I've been watching too much Mad Men!) The metal will be bronze to match our finishes and I'll use some type of geometric/retro print on on the shelves. This "before/after" photo from Pinterest is one of my inspiration photos.

The bar cart project is at the top of my list for this summer. I hope to get started on it in the next few days!

2 comments:

Kristina said...

Looks like a fun project!

Heather said...

I love that you're restoring that cart and will be using it. I can't wait to see the finished product!