IKEA Hack - Bar Cart

A couple weeks ago I told you all about the utility cart I purchased at IKEA. Well this weekend, I finally got around to the redo! In case you missed the last post or don't remember what the basic cart looks like, here it is:

BYGEL Utility Cart - IKEA

It doesn't look bad or anything, I just wanted to give it some more character. I decided to stay simple and just go with the gold and white look. I figured I could then add some color with the items I put on the cart and I could change it up for different parties. Honestly, all you have to do is spray paint everything that is silver, including your screws. Don't forget, my go to spray paint for gold is Rust-Oleum Metallic Gold. I dressed it up fun to show on the blog, don't feel like you have to go all out for everyday...unless you want to! Always fun to have a little corner of party in your house.

Tada...

It has a nice drawer for storage - great place for extra cocktail napkins, koozies and straws! I also had some fun plastic silverware to put in there.

I found the cute liquor candies while in Florida at their World Market - if you live in a state where you can buy liquor at a grocery store, you should be able to find them.

It's amazing what a can of $3 spray paint can do! In total, this bar cart cost me less than $35 to make. Plus, the good new is that IKEA now has regular shipping rates. If you aren't near an IKEA or you get anxiety going there, you can order online and shipping looks to be around $10 (at least to my address). Leaves you with money to go buy cute wine and liquor to stock the cart with - Dustin just loved going on that liquor run...not!

Lots of Love,

To Do: Ikea Barcart Ideas

This weekend Dustin and I headed up to Lawrence to visit with his parents and siblings. It's always fun getting back and catching up! Today, I dragged my mother-in-law and sister-in-law with me to the new IKEA in Kansas City. I warned them about the craziness ahead of time and luckily, since I had recently gone for the first time, I was able to get us through decently quick (which sadly isn't very quick at all). We all found fun things and filled up the car to the max.

One of the items I wanted to go for was the BYGEL Utility Cart because I thought it would be fun to redo for a holiday party I'm going to host. I figured for $30, I could add some character to it and make it look festive.

Now, I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with it. I have seen lots of pins on Pinterest with the silver parts spray painted to gold and I love that look. I wanted to see what other ideas I could find to see if something else caught my eye.

Here is the classic, just spray paint the silver gold - I love the simplicity of this because then you can add the character with items on the cart.

They did all gold on their makeover, almost too urban for my house.

This is a chic look with the black and gold.

For a quirky touch, they added shelving paper to the shelves - could be fun if you find great shelving paper.

They got fancy with their makeover and added overlays on the sides. The pop of color is fun, even without the overlays.

There are lots of fun ideas you can do with the simple cart, I just need to make my decision!  I am hoping to squeeze in some time this week to do the makeover before I head off to meet my adorable new cousin, baby Beau, in Florida (can't wait to share pictures with you all!). If I'm not able to find time, I will conquer it the next week!

Do any of you have any fun ideas or color combos I should try!?

Lots of Love,

IKEA Hack - Sputnik Chandelier

A while back I stumbled upon a fabulous blog called Little Green Notebook and she was showing off her new office. I immediately fell in love with her chandelier. When I read that it was an IKEA hack, I was shocked. The IKEA Maskros light is all over Pinterest, and she managed to turn it into something gorgeous. Well, last weekend over the Fourth, we were in Denver and decided to stop in IKEA - massive and intense! After Dustin gave me the green light, I purchased the $50 pendant lamp and decided to try the makeover for myself. It was worth it because we love the results!

Her instructions for making the light (she's done it twice and both look great!): Sea Green Sputnik & White Sputnik

When you open the box, there are of course a million pieces - it's IKEA and expected. I spray painted the "arms" of the light with my favorite gold spray paint: Rust-Oleum Metallic Gold. Didn't take long to do (well shouldn't, except I kept running out of spray paint! Not the best idea to rely on cans that you've used before!) and it takes about one and a half cans to cover.

While those were drying, I had to cut the flowers down. I used a cup with a 2.5" opening to trace the circles. Then I used scissors to cut - I tried slicing with a slicer, but it didn't work as well as I wanted it to. After they are cut, you need to glue the white Le Fleur cups onto them. She recommended Fabri-Tac glue and it was awesome.

The cutting and gluing takes the most time - I seriously thought the flowers were never going to end! There are 84 you have to cut down if you get the smaller Maskros light. After I finished gluing, I convinced my wonderful husband to install the light fixture part of the light - love how IKEA has you add the crazy arms after you install the light, makes it so much easier. Of course being in an old house, installing the light wasn't as easy as we had hoped, but after my 9pm Wal-Mart run for longer screws it worked - yay! I think it looks great in the space and it looks really good for a $90 light (light $50, materials $40)!

Adds some great character to our dining room and I'm excited to get rid of the old fixture we had in there before. I love how the white cups look similar to milk glass and the paper flowers shine through. Plus, you all know how much I love gold. I think my first IKEA hack worked out well! I have some lanterns I'll share with you once I get them painted. Alright, it's late so lights out!

Lots of Love,