I hope today’s post is better late than never! Usually I have my posts scheduled in advance for 7 a.m., but the rainy weather we’ve had of late here in Minnesota has not been conducive to photo taking. Plus I’m working on a huge piece that is taking forever to finish, so I don’t have a lot to share.
Today I am playing hooky from work (it’s OK, an authorized vacation day). So far it has been quite blissful. Coffee in bed with a good book at 7 a.m., sold the marble topped dresser at 9:30 a.m., staged today’s photos at 10 a.m. and now I’m enjoying the Diana Krall station (any other fans?) on Pandora and pulling together this post while eating a fluffer nutter. Anyone know what that is? A peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich. I hope you aren’t reading my blog looking for healthy eating tips because you clearly won’t find them here!
Alright, on with today’s feature item. Way back in June my friend Cathy nabbed this 50’s metal cart for me (thanks again Cathy!) When I got it, it was plain white, and rather beat up. The wheels didn’t say on and one of the drop leaf sides wasn’t working.
I started by painting it with Fusion’s Laurentien. I just adore this color (have I said that too many times?) and it helped play up the mid-century vibe.
I painted the drawer front in Fusion’s Picket Fence, a nice crisp white. I also changed out the original hardware, which was a tacky black plastic drawer pull. This chrome cup pull is a much better choice for this piece.
Once the paint job was finished I decided to have a little fun! I cut “eat, drink and be merry” out of white vinyl on my Cricut and ran it across the top.
Thus officially turning this into a bar cart! The fact that the Fusion paint is fully washable after 30 days of curing time makes it perfect for this piece, because we all know that there will be spilled drinks!
I stocked it with some bar essentials; glassware, straws, ice bucket, etc.
I also painted inside the drawer just to clean it up a bit.
The leaves can be folded down …
or left up.
This cart would be so much fun for holiday entertaining, easily rolled out to where you need it.
Well, I’m off now to enjoy the rest of my vacation day. I believe I shall eat, drink and be merry! In fact, I’ve got the entire weekend in front of me for that. How about you?
And P.S. the bar cart is for sale. If you are an interested local (Twin Cities), leave me a comment and I’ll email you with details. SOLD.
Sharing at Finding Silver Pennies Sundays!
q is for quandie 
I love the way you staged the piece! Are those straws paper?
That piece is just so darn cute.
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Thanks Teri! Yep, paper straws.
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What is the price on this sweet piece?
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It is $125 Ruthie. Let me know if you want to swing by and see it.
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I LOVE this piece! (long time lurker here).
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Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment today ‘long time lurker’ TJ! It’s good to know that this piece inspired you to speak out 😉
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I’m drooling over that piece!
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Lucky I used the Fusion paint so I can just wipe that drool right off it 😉
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AND I carry vintage hankies to take care of my issue 🙂
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Too cute! Also, are you having a fall/winter carriage sale this year?
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I see Linda has not popped back in to see your question – I asked about the fall sale earlier this week and she said she was not doing one to due the fact her bff daughter is getting married
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Correct Victoria! Thanks for responding. I was called out to an emergency wedding this evening. LOL. Life is crazy sometimes. As you know, Mr. Q is a wedding officiant, and he was needed to fill in at the last minute at a wedding about an hour north of here so off we went!
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Thanks Victoria and Linda! Too bad for us, but happy for the upcoming nuptials! 🙂
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I do no drink alcohol but would start if I had this awesome cart! Love it!!
Blessings
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Ha! Well, I don’t want to start you down the path of destruction Shelly. But you could use it for lemonade or iced tea 😉
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so stinkin cute! You do such great work.
I too am a huge fan of Laurentien, it makes most everything it touches happier.
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I love that way of putting it! That color does make things happier!
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That color really is perfection!
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It is my ab fab favorite of the Fusion colors!
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Perfect color choice for that cart, and you styled it so cute! If I lived in MN, I would snatch it up in a hot minute! Enjoy your day off!
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Thanks Cynthia! I had some fun styling this one. It was nice having the time to really do it up. It made me realize that I need to take more time with my photo styling in the future.
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This piece reminds me of one my folks had growing up and it too was white. I think they stored a typewriter on it. Wow that is way back – they used for the typewriter. Yep this color embraces that era. We even had a Chevy that was pretty close to this color with white fins. Did you say you replaced the vw bug? Diana Krall – big fans.
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The little main street of North St. Paul is just a couple of blocks away from me and every Friday in summer they have a classic car shindig. The street is lined up and down with gorgeous old cars. And I always drool over the ones that are turquoise and white with big fins! And yes, speaking of cars, I traded my old bug in on a brand new bug. It’s not the same fabulous aqua as my old one (this one is in a color called Platinum), but it drives like a dream. And I went with another convertible because as it turns out, I love driving with the top down as long as I possibly can in Minnesota! This one also has a connection for my iPod, so I can listen to Diana Krall in the car too!
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Seriously cool to have a classic car shindig – I am a car person – I love vintage trucks but my sons keep telling me you need to know how to work on them to keep one affordable- I have also had two convertibles alas I am a suv gal.
I like to put furniture in my vehicle. But I am betting Mr. Q has a truck which makes your bug-love possible. “Popsicle Toes” was my first experience with
DK – Interesting gal she is.
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Popsicle Toes is one of my favorites as well. Yep, Mr. Q drives the truck that I can use for hauling furniture, thus giving me the option of a convertible!
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Something about this color takes an item from so-so to cute and quirky, and it seems to fit with any decor. Love it! So glad to hear someone else loves fluffer nutter sandwiches, a favorite guilty pleasure with a little pile of potato chips and cold milk.
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LOL, I was beginning to wonder if anyone had even noticed the fluffer nutter comment Kim! I agree, the side of chips and glass of milk are a must!
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It’s pinned it’s fabulous, now I’m thirsty, maybe because I just wanna shake something up in a penguin.
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LOL! Who doesn’t love to shake things up with penguins?
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Can you explain the process? I have a old medical cart. Also in rough shape. The plan was to have it powdered coated but your piece looks so awesome now thinking of painting. How much prep did you do? Fusion mineral paint? Top coating? Mine will likely be used as a coffee station.
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I did do some prep work on this piece. First I sanded it. To clarify, when sanding a piece prior to painting it the goal is to just rough up the surface so it will grab the paint better. You do not have to sand all the way through the pre-existing finish. Just rough up the surface. Then I cleaned it thoroughly using TSP substitute (this product cleans and de-greases). Then I painted it with two coats of Fusion paint. I did not add a topcoat. You shouldn’t need one with the Fusion paint. Keep in mind that the paint has to cure (21 days) to reach maximum durability. So in the first 21 days try to treat it a little more gently, don’t place heavy things on it, etc. But after 21 days this paint is scrub-able. Here is a great article from Fusion about that. Just keep in mind that painting your piece with a brush is not going to give you a flawlessly smooth finish like powder coating would. Up close you will likely see some brush strokes. If that’s going to bother you, you might not want to try this approach. Personally I am OK with that, and painting it yourself is going to be far cheaper than having it powder coated! Best of luck on your coffee station! Sidebar: I also have another metal cart waiting for a makeover and I was thinking coffee station too! I think this coffee stencil from Donna at Funky Junk would be fun to use on it.
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