IKEA bar cart hack (That’s not the usual gold & marble)

Duo takes a different approach to the IKEA bar cart hack.

My roommate and I liked the idea of filling this corner of our kitchen with a bar cart. But we wanted it to match our furniture and very importantly, not cost over $100.

We found nothing that had the bronze and wood combination in our decor and within our budget. So we decided to make our own bar cart from a black IKEA NISSAFORS cart.

A lot of IKEA bar cart hacks were carts spray painted gold with marble contact paper which wasn’t the look we were going for. So we made our own design to fit what we wanted.

IKEA item used:

Black NISSAFORS Cart

Other materials:

1 in x 12 in x 6 ft board cut into three 18 3/4 in pieces: $12
Champagne bronze metallic spray paint: $5
Things we already had: saw, sander, brushes, drop cloth, special walnut stain, satin polyurethane.
Sandpaper 100 grit

Total Cost: $41

Quick and easy IKEA bar cart hack

Step 1: Buy wood for shelves

We decided to get a 1x12x6 plank from Home Depot, which is 11 1/4 inches in actual width. It was a good fit as the cart was a little less than a foot in width.

Step 2: Cut and sand wood

We whipped out our jigsaw to cut our wood into 3 different pieces, measuring 18 3/4 inches in length each. If you have something that makes straighter cuts definitely use that. (Or get it cut at Home Depot if the cutting service is available. It wasn’t on the day we went.)

Then, we used our palm sander with 100 grit sandpaper since we just wanted to sand down the cuts. If you want to make your shelves smoother, you can use finer sandpaper after.

We had some remaining wood, which we made into a serving tray for a friend.

Step 3: Stain and polyurethane shelves

After sanding, we cleaned the pieces with a dry rag and applied 1 coat of Minwax Special Walnut stain. We let that sit overnight.

Then we finished the shelves with 1 coat of satin Minwax polyurethane and let that sit for about 5 hours since it was fast-drying.

Step 4: Assemble cart

We assembled the cart and tested it in situ before hacking it. Just to make sure it fits and we liked it. This way, if anything was wrong we could still return it. It passed the dry run.

before

Step 5: Spray paint cart

Next, we took the cart outside and spray painted it. This step was really quick and easy, and the cart was dry after just 10 minutes. The cart took two cans of spray paint to coat.

Step 5: Add shelves to cart

When everything was dry, we brought the cart back inside. Then, we placed a shelf on each tiers. If your shelves don’t slide right in at first, you can place a cloth on your shelf and lightly hammer the corners to get them in.

Step 6: Decorate!

Lastly, the fun part. We added some bottles of wine and gin, all our favorite glasses, our cocktail books and shaker, and a little bit of green. More to come.