A La Cart

Not sure why but I have been Jones'n (did I just say Jones'n?) for a little metal kitchen cart for a while now. I think they are cute and vintag-y. There's something that gets me all nostalgic over furniture pieces that we in our modern society don't use much anymore. 

I've had my eye out at thrift stores and junk shops for a little cart and my persistence finally paid off a few weeks ago. 

Check out this beauty!

This was yet another instance where the Hubs gave me the - "What piece of trash did you drag home this time?" look. And in his defense this cart should have been in the trash given the condition it was in- but I paid $10 for it at a vintage store. 

The lady should have paid me to take it off her hands!

Never the less I took it home and got to work bringing out the potential I knew it had.

The first task was taking off the century old faux wood contact paper that was covering the metal top. Using my hair dryer on the highest heat setting the paper came off quickly. 

I focused the heat on one small area at a time and the old glue began to loosen and I was able to peel it away. I used a combination of a plastic scraper and my fingers to get it all off.

But my task wasn't done yet. Underneath the lovely contact paper was layers and layers of paint.

For this job I started off with paint stripper and elbow grease to get most of the paint layers off. Then I took out my trusty metal brush drill bit and ground off the rest of the stubborn paint that I wasn't able to chip off.

After all the prep work was done it was painting time! I taped off some stripes in a metallic Latte color and finished off the tops with a crisp white.

And Voila! Good as new!!

I'm thinking for our next football party and definitely for Christmas I will bring it out to serve drinks on!

But in the meantime I'm using it as a makeshift end table in our formal living room.

What trash to treasure makeover's have you done recently? Do you remember having a metal cart used in your home growing up?