Flea Market Flip, DIY Bar Cart
- By Joan
- October 30, 2019
- 15 Comments
Flea Market Flip, DIY Bar Cart
Since I watch the show Flea Market Flip all the time, it may come as no surprise that I saw a bar cart to be as soon as I saw this rusty old metal cart.
If you’ve never seen Flea Market Flip, it’s all about taking flea market finds and transforming them into something great. They may be a complete upcycle or a more modest paint transformation. No matter what project they’re working on every show seems to include at least one bar cart.
The entire cart was covered with a nice coat of rust. None of the rust went all the way thru the metal so its severe case of rustitis was certainly fixable.
I started out with a sanding disk on a metal grinder but the sanding disk on my orbital sander was a lot faster.
If you’re attacking any piece with this much rust I would definitely suggest taking it outside and using a face mask.
When clean, use a nice rust inhibiting spray paint. If you like this color it is Rust-Oleum Oil Rubbed Bronze , it’s a paint and primer in one.
I found some old wood hiding under my deck to make a nice butcher block top. Cut long enough and wide enough to overlap the sides.
I cut scrap 2×4’s to make a frame for inside the top of the bar cart. It won’t be seen but it will support the butcher block wood top.
I have to take a moment to thank my neighbor for the 2×4’s, she was kind enough to think of me when she was scrapping her daughter’s bed and about to make a run to the dump. I have more bed slats somewhere in my future.
Attach the top with wood glue and kreg jig screws.
Screw the 2×4 frame to the top.
Sand all the splinters off the top and smooth all the rough edges.
I took the bottom drawer out of the rolling cart and the space is perfect for a DIY wine rack.
With my test bottle, I found the 15″ space fit 4 bottles.
Cut 3 divider pieces long enough to fit your wine bottle with an extra inch or two to give some wiggle room…about 16″.
Cut one more piece the exact width of your drawer space.
If necessary, trim the pieces down so they fit snugly in the drawer space.
Paint as desired, especially if you want a pop of color.
I’m using a semigloss red that used to be the color of my front door. Since I just repainted the door blue might as well use up my leftovers.
Use a nail gun to attach.
I found it easiest to find the center of the back board, then find the midway point for each side.
I couldn’t really glue the wine dividers into place without smearing glue all over the place. New idea…cut a piece of quarter round moulding the width of the drawer.
Turn the cart upside down to glue the quarter round moulding into place. I used a nice coat of clear gorilla glue then clamped into place until dry.
Once dry, turn the cart right side up and use a nail gun to attach the moulding directly to the wine spacers. If you don’t have a nail gun just use your glue to attach. The force of a hammer would probably knock the moulding off.
Cut pallet wood to fit the bottom tray. Hey, it’s free and rustic!
Of course you still have to sand some of that beautiful rusticness off so you can actually use it for food.
Use builders adhesive to attach the bottom pallet wood and the top butcher block to the cart.
Finish all your wood as desired. Mine got a coat of stain followed by two coats of Watco Danish Oil Wood Finish.
The final before and after of my flea market flip. Is a bar cart in your future?
Stay inspired.
My updated flea market transformations… Of course the bar cart, the shelves made from the desk drawers, lamps made from the jack stands, a star made from tobacco sticks, whale weathervane from a jack, coffee table from silo doors, and a pair of raised stencil headboards from a free roadside find. If you want to see all my treasures from the flea market, you can find them here.
Shared at Salvaged Junk Projects,
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I watch flea market flip whenever it is on and love it. I sometimes love what people make and some I do not like much. But it is great to see creativity.
That’s a winner! Great job. Isn’t FMF the BEST?!?
Absolutely the best but there is no way I could shop for 3 projects in one hour let alone have only 1 day to transform them. Too much pressure.
My husband and I were watching a DVR’d one today and there were two bar carts being made and sold. He said to me,,,we must be strange, we’ve never wanted a bar cart. 😉 Sometimes they turn out good, other times,,they are kind of strange. Yours looks great! Loving the wood you used.
Thank you and I totally agree (I’m not a drinker) but I still had to make one. I had the cart after all.
Nice transformation. I’ll admit that I thought the cart was beyond help. You proved me wrong. 🙂
Could you make a rack to hold wine glasses And attach to the bottom of the of the wine holder.
Sure you could. Flea market Flip does it all the time be attaching several pieces of T molding.
Great save, most [people would have walked away. You did a great job
Really great! I LOVE metal and wood! (I need to retire so I have time for this stuff.)
[…] Industrial bar cart by Scavenger Chic […]
What a transformation! Great job:)
What a transformation! Great job 🙂
We just picked a free cart that looks exactly like yours….can’t wait to start our next project!
What glue/ adhesive do you recommend to attach wood to metal?
Try using a high quality builders adhesive. Right now my adhesive of choice is Gorilla Glue heavy duty construction adhesive. Right now it costs about $10 a tube. A little pricey but I’ve found the adhesive that says easy water cleanup don’t hold nearly as well. Hope that helps and good luck with your project.