If you know my husband you know he has a slight obsession with craft cocktails. I really can’t complain though since I have been given the job of number 1 taste tester. As soon as we started to build our house he was been pretty adamant about getting a bar. I kid you not he literally wanted a real bar that he could stand behind. Considering we didn’t build a mansion we compromised and decided to get him an upgraded Bar Cart. Easier said than done. For a man with such a small budget he sure had picky taste. And now just for the record our idea of a “budget” was far from the same. He’s the type of man who thinks spending 30 dollars for a shirt is expensive. After months and months of searching every furniture store, discount retailer, and online website we finally decided we hadn’t found anything that we both agreed on. HA. I had one option I liked from World Market but he still thought it was too pricy for not being exactly what he wanted.
That’s when I suggested thrift shops and antique malls and that is how we came across this.
So basically it needed a lot work. (As I’m sure you can tell.) Everything was rusted; it had a missing side wood panel, and a horrific paint job but we saw potential. The first thing we did was remove all the paint using a chemical stripper, clean the rust with a simple water and vinegar mixture, and then seal it with Penetrol (to prevent further rusting) and a polyurethane top coat.
Next we fixed the right door which wouldn’t stay closed and replaced the flaking side panels.
To make it practical we added stemware racks to hang our wine and punch glasses and a dishtowel bar to the side. We wanted to add some glam to the rustic piece so we decided to purchase a remnant marble slab for the countertop and paint the entire piece a minty turquoise color.
Here is the finished product!
Considering this is my first EVER furniture rehab I am pretty excited with the outcome. It’s glamorous and practical and really reminds me of a bar you would find in an old speak easy. It may have taken some extra TLC but even with all the work we put into it the entire piece cost us the same amount as the bar from World Market. And about 99% of that cost was for our Marble Slab splurge. The best part though is that we got to get exactly what we wanted. Now I’m obsessed and can’t wait to start another project.
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