Monday, August 13, 2012

Thrift Store Gold Trolley/Bar Cart

Look at this $10 gem I found at the thrift shop last week. I absolutely love it's retro vibe!
Life Designed
I was happy to find it in decent condition- it just needed a little bit of TLC.

I used Krylon's metallic gold paint which I chose because the cap colour was the perfect shade of gold. But this happened:
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As you can see it came out a lot more copper-ish than gold. Strike 1 Krylon.

Then I noticed this as well:
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Strike 2!

I should have just returned it but I've had this can in my stash for months so I just sprayed the whole cart. Who knows, maybe it would look ok when it was all sprayed.
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It blends really well with my bamboo floors! But this was not the look I wanted. 

Home Depot didn't have any gold spray paint so I went to Canadian Tire and ended up getting another Krylon product (it's all they had). This time, I went with a different line and in the colour brass.

(I realize a lot of time "gold" spray paint and paint is a lot more copper-ish. If you want a more yellow gold, go for gold plated or brass.)
I went home pretty confident that this time, the colour would be the same as the cap.
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Ah, much better! At first I was thinking it wasn't as brilliant and shiny as I thought it would be. But I actually don't mind it so much. In fact, I love it!

I was happy that the glass shelves were in perfect shape.
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The shelf supports however needed some major help.

I searched the internet and hardware stores for replacements but came up empty handed. I don't think they even make these anymore.

I was however, lucky enough to come across this:
Lee Valley
I wasn't sure if it would work but it was the closest thing I could find and it was well priced too! $5 for a package of 4. 
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Perfecto! Phew... what a huge relief. I love Lee Valley!
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(I'm moving in a few weeks so for now, this trolley is sitting pretty in my bedroom, hence the carpet.)

I embraced the retro vibe with a Haper's Bazaar art piece that I picked up from Winner's a few years ago.  I'm glad to have finally found a home for it- at least for now. I have no idea what will happen in the new place.

When I first picked this up at the thrift shop, my intention was to fix it up and resell it- gotta pay the bills! But...I love it so much that I'm going to keep it!

Wouldn't you?? =)

On a sad note, the hard drive on my 6 year old Macbook finally died. RIP. I lost some data BUT thank God I still have most of my project pictures. I don't like having a lot of photos on my camera's SD card so as soon as I upload the pictures to my computer I usually delete the photos. This is a very bad idea if your hard drive dies on you! Thankfully, a couple days before it died, I started several draft posts and uploaded the images online. Had I not done that, all my recent project pictures would be in HD heaven. It's not a HUGE deal but still, it's nice to know God's got my back- even with the little things. =)

5 comments:

  1. I have had the same issue with gold... I have my favorites now but it takes some trail and error, for sure! I love the way it turned out! I would love this for a bar cart... literally a movable bar cart!

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  2. It's beautiful, I can definitely see why you wanted to keep it! Good tip about the gold spray paint! Sorry to hear about your computer dying :( It's always a sad day when they go to tech Heaven.

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  3. I love it! Looks fabulous, and great tip about the paint! I've never thought about that-but it makes sense thanks!

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  4. You're making me want a bar cart, Miss! lol. Looks pretty good to me! Love the Harper's Bazaar art piece :)

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  5. Nancy, don't laugh but if you want gold spray paint the best place (and cheapest) is Walmart. They have a flat and a shiny one and they are very good. I spray painted a chandelier with the shiny one (where the finish had gone) and after all was said and done you could barely see where it was spray painted.
    Hope this helps with anything you want gold ever again!

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