From Worn Out Bookcase to Outdoor Rolling Bar Cart

Welcome to Day 3 of my Spring Patio Week where I’m sharing all the tutorials for the patio projects I did back in the fall for the One Room Challenge.  In case you missed them, I shared how to refinish a wooden patio set on Monday and how to make some No-Sew Outdoor Curtains yesterday.  You can also see the full patio reveal HERE.   Today I’m sharing how this little bookshelf got made over into an outdoor rolling bar cart!

Back in undergrad I needed a small low bookshelf to set my 3-piece stereo set on in my apartment.  You remember those, right?  Two big square speakers and another big square stereo in the middle with about eight gillion knobs on it??  That.  I wanted to showcase mine so in my first EVER build, I whipped up this bad boy:

It moved with me to graduate school, then to our house where it got relished to the back patio and became our gardening supply storage shelf slash Fry Daddy table.  The stain on it was already horrible (I had no idea what I was doing back then or what I used) then the years of sitting outside in grease and chemicals actually started peeling the stain off  (insert shocked-face emoji).

When I redid our patio last fall, I wanted to create a bar area where people could serve themselves instead of spreading coolers out on the ground or having everyone go inside for beverage accouterments.   This little guy was the perfect height to sit a cooler on so I gave him a new life and transformed him into a rolling bar cart/cooler stand!

{Supplies for Rolling Bar Cart}

• Sander
• Vaseline
• Primer
• Paint – I used this paint in “Westhighland White”
• Paintbrushes – my favorites here
• Casters
• Drill
• Spraypaint (optional)
• Hooks, bottle opener, etc.

I sanded the piece the best that I could but that old stain was super harsh and had penetrated deeply.  Since I wanted a rustic look anyway, and I’m impatient, I didn’t bother priming the bookcase before painting but REALLY should have as the stain has started to bleed through after about six months now.  So, if your stain is deep like this, I highly suggest using a primer first!

{Bookcase to Rolling Bar Cart}

After sanding the whole piece and cleaning it off, I applied the Vaseline to the edges of the planks and anywhere else that wear and distressing may naturally occur.

I then painted on two coats of my paint, right over all the Vaseline spots (again, sorry about the crappy garage night time pics, it was ORC mania y’all).

Then, after the paint was all dry I used a towel to rub off where the Vaseline was.  While I do love super chippy pieces as much as the next girl, I apparently was a little too Vaseline-happy and there was just too much distressing happening.

So, I applied one more coat of paint to dull down all those spots and ended up with just the right look I was going for.

I spraypainted my casters with oil-rubbed bronze spraypaint to make them look a little more vintage then screwed them to the bottom of the shelf.  Yes, the paint wore off the surface of the wheels quickly but you really can’t tell, especially after that part rusted over quickly from being outside ;)

A few hooks, a bottle opener, some cold beverage necessities later, and I had myself a completely new piece!!!

We can use it as a place to serve snacks or display items or put a cooler on top and have it be a total bar area, depending on what sort of party we’re having.

The wine opener, glassware, koozies, a towel, beer salt, a place for me to snag those bottlecaps, and a bottle of bug spray (always necessary here) are all super accessible for guests so they (and I) don’t have to keep running inside.

hooks (similar) / glassware / rectangle olive basket

I think around here our little cart will be used as a cooler stand most often.  I mean, it’s just way too much trouble to bend down so often to get a beer out of a cooler….

Not too bad for just the cost of some casters and hooks!  Who knew that an old college bookshelf would become the perfect piece we needed for our updated patio?!

Next we’ll wrap up Spring Patio Week with the tutorial for that gorgeous privacy wall you see here!!

sander

drill

3″ brush

primer

metallic spraypaint

paint

casters

Vaseline

*I was provided some products for this project, however all opinions and ideas are my own as usual.  Click here to see my disclosure policy.