I'm excited to share a recent DIY project I completed in conjunction with a live presentation I gave at the Novi Boat Show Harborside Market this weekend. Lakeside living and entertaining go hand in hand, so I decided to share a tutorial on how to turn a budget friendly dresser into a chic beverage cart with a little nautical flavor.
Take a look..
Before
After
You already know I love a good Ikea hack. DIY projects involving Ikea furniture can be quick and simple, as well as dramatic and that's just what I was going for. I started this project by purchasing an unfinished, unassembled, Tarva Dresser.
Prior to assembling the dresser, I painted all sides of each piece of wood with cabinet, door and trim paint by Dutch Boy. It has primer built in and adhered beautifully to the unfinished Tarva wood offering a durable, one coat finish. The color I used was "Cooled Graphite".
Once the paint dried, I assembled dresser per the instructions. When it came time to install the drawers, I omitted step where I was supposed to put the top two drawers. This left room for my bar serving area.
I screwed a stemware rack underneath the top of the dresser.
To give the piece a finished look, I added a piece of wood to create an apron across the top. This helped to disguise the white wire glass rack.
Using a piece of MDF cut to size and painted out in gray, I created a shelf above the drawer. Thin strips of poplar screwed into the sides of the dresser act as support brackets for the shelf to rest on. I filled in the holes left from the uninstalled drawers with plastic wood filler.
Once the wood filler cured, I was able to give the areas a light sanding and touch them up with paint as needed. Then, it was time for the fun part, accessorizing! This is where I gave this piece some personality and style.
Swapping out the basic wood knobs with these unique compass knobs from Hobby Lobby instantly provided lakeside living flair.
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Wine corks made great vase fillers and these lanterns looks so cute on the top.
These fantastic hooks featuring rope detail attached to the sides of the bar cart offer a spot to hang attractive towels and bar accessories...
The rest of the styling was done simply by stocking the cart with basic necessities.
The shelf is perfect for wine storage and the top of the piece provides a nice serving area. Cheese and crackers, anyone?
The three bottom drawers provide a lot of storage space for entertaining supplies which could make throwing your next party a breeze.
After the presentation, it was so much fun to give this piece away to one lucky recipient at the show! If I'm being honest, it was a little hard to let go of it, but this will be a great project to do again this summer.
There are so many ways this piece could be customized to complement your decor. How cute would it be to add pretty wall paper to the back of the shelf and/or inside the drawers? The possibilities are endless! I'll be back in a few days to show you the second DIY project I presented to the crowd at the boat show! You didn't think I could stop at just one, did you? For now, back to the design studio!
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