Last month I turned an
old printer stand into a trendy bar cart as part of the
Drab to Fab furniture makeover series that I worked on in partnership with Rust-Oleum to be displayed at the Denver Home Show. But I quickly realized the bar cart just didn't look as cool as I envisioned when it was empty - it really needed to be staged with bottles are bar accessories at the Home Show in order for people to get the full picture. That meant I needed to come up with a few quick items to stage the cart with that wouldn't cost me much money, but that would still look very stylish on display.
When I think stylish, Kate Spade New York always comes to mind, so I looked around online at some of her gorgeous bar accessories for inspiration. I came across a really unique champagne tote and an acrylic, gold polka dot ice bucket. I knew I could quickly and easily recreate both looks at a fraction of the cost! And since nothing says Kate Spade more than black and white stripes, I also came up with a super easy way to create a striped tray for the bottom shelf of the bar cart.
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Since I didn't want to spend much money, or much time. I had to get creative! Here's what I started with - an empty one-gallon paint can {it was an extra that I already had on hand from organizing our paint supplies in the utility room}; a red metal planter {sent to me by a fellow blogger with the challenge of upcycling it}, and an inexpensive plastic serving tray. Each transformation took me only about five minutes!
Let's start with the tray. I didn't want to mess with painting stripes, so instead I affixed strips of black electrical tape to the bottom of the tray, pressing down firmly to eliminate any air bubbles under the tape.
Once the tray was covered in black-taped stripes, I took all three pieces out to the garage for a coat of
Rust-Oleum white spray lacquer. I didn't want to paint the inside of the paint can, so used some blue painter's tape to create a barrier beneath the inner edge.
I sprayed each item with several thin, even coats of the white lacquer paint, letting it dry between coats.
After the paint was dry, I brought everything back in the house. At this point, the tray was already complete. By spray painting only the bottom side of the tray, the black stripes remain visible from the top, and the tray also remains food safe. I used the tray on the bottom of the bar cart for bottles of liquor.
To complete the look of the champagne bucket and the ice bucket, I used some
gold adhesive vinyl. The
Kate Spade champagne tote that I was inspired by had a spade in the center, but for my version, I decided on a star. I cut a large circle, a small star, and the letters for POP FIZZ CLINK using my old-school Cricut machine {some day I'll finally upgrade to the fancy new
Cricut Explore}.
Using my Cricut cutter made this project really easy to customize, but you could also purchase gold sticker letters from a craft store, and cut the circle by hand.
I totally love the way the champagne bucket turned out! So much more stylish than that dirty, red planter it used to be.
The Kate Spade
ice bucket was actually acrylic, rather than white like my version. If I hadn't already had that metal paint can on hand, and if I hadn't been doing this project as quickly as possible, I would have instead purchased a
clear paint can for an even higher-end look. Nonetheless, I think the glossy white looks great with the gold polka dots. I cut the polka dots using my
Fiskars round squeeze punch.
I placed the polka dots on the paint can in straight rows.
Finally, I decided to add the letters "ICE" down the center, unlike the original Kate Spade version. I probably wouldn't have added the letters if I was using a clear can, but the I felt that on my white version it made it look more like an ice bucket, and less like a paint can.
I staged the bar cart using my new Kate Spade-inspired creations, and what a big impact!
For the bar cart display at the Denver Home Show I used empty wine and liquor bottles rather than full {I collected them from the restaurants in our neighborhood}, but my simple bar accessories really completed the look.
From basic household items to stylish bar accessories... Here's one more look at before and after of these quick and cheap makeovers!
Labels: bar cart, craft, DIY, drab to fab, entertaining, Five Minute Friday, inspiration, knock off, upcycle
