June Monthly Challenge: Outdoor Entertaining Cart!

We are grilling fanatics.  It is one of the reasons I count down the seconds to spring, summer and fall.  If we can grill it, we will!

Whenever the hubs whips up dinner, I hear, "Honey, can you bring me a plate?" or "Can you grab me a tray?".  Then I watch him hold these things while trying to check the kabobs or flip a piece of chicken.  It is all silly and the obvious solution was to add some sort of grilling table or cart nearby so he had a place to set all of the necessities.  Things such as plates, tongs, BBQ sauce, temp checkers, etc....  My first thought was to just add a folding table/tray of some sort.

Then I saw this inspiration pic which I shared when I chatted about our initial back yard spruce up plans.

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What I loved was that they had a small table located in the back corner, which was great for entertaining and setting up food for serving.  It got my brain wheels spinning.  Could I create something that doubled as grilling surface and also offers up entertaining options?  Here was my inspiration piece:

{via}

At over $400 beans, there was NO way that was going to happen, but I did love the removable tray on top, the wheels so it could be portable and the storage below.  I was about to hit up some thrift stores when I remembered I had already purchased something oh-so-similar a long while back.  Remember my craft cart?  When I first started working on our studio we snagged this $25 cart from IKEA to hold some of my craft supplies and magazines.  But since, we have built in tremendous functional storage and added a more substantial craft cart, this one has just been holding boxes in our storage closet.

Say what?!  This awesomeness is such a close replica of the bajillion dollar inspiration piece!  I love shopping your own home and coming up with a winning solution.  Happy dancing commenced.

However, you know me.  I can't leave things alone.  The cart was looking low end and sterile.

I have been playing with all sorts of gold accents lately, and for the most part that has meant working with different paints and sprays and even gold leaf.  For this project, I thought I would try my hand at Rub n' Buff.  I have heard great things around the land of blogs.  I went with the Gold Leaf finish.

I have never used the stuff before so I Googled a tutorial and read the instructions on the back of the tube.  Seemed pretty straight forward.  However, I instantly noticed it didn't absorb as I thought it was, as the glossy silver finish is extremely slick and non-porous.  It didn't take long until I found that a small dab on a cloth and just lightly smoothing it over the cart gave me the look I was after.

Since before I started I removed the white metal shelves, I only went over the areas that would be visible and was really excited about the outcome!

The next step was to let it dry and cure, I waited about 24 hours.  Then, I went over it with a couple of coats of Rustoleum Clear Coat Spray Paint, just to protect it a bit in case it should get rained on.

The thing I have found about working on these outdoor projects, is that there is this new sense of "How will it hold up and last against the elements?" that runs through me every project I tackle.  We get rain, heat, snow, sleet... when working outdoors, it is important to consider all of those factors.  For the most part, our updates have included spray paint, since it states it is OK for outdoor use, and I know I can re-coat down the line.  For this project, I have never used the Rub n' Buff before, so I did the clear coat coverage after.  Nervous that even that would impact the design {luckily it didn't}, it really got me thinking those "what if" thoughts.  I knew that worst case scenario, if the Rub n' Buff didn't work, I could always spray paint the cart again down the line, so for me, it was worth the risk.

And I luuuuurve it!!!

It is so darling and functional at the same time!

The existing metal shelves were left alone since they are already glossy and simple to clean.  I added color through all of the outdoor accessories.

Now, when we grill, we can use the handle to hook the utensils and hang a towel for any messes or wiping of the hands.

The hooks are simple "S" hooks from {similar to these}, and the towel {actually a napkin} is our inspiration pattern/fabric from World Market.

When the utensils are not in use, there is a small plastic drawer so they can be tucked away.

The tray on the top of the cart is a melamine, weather proof version from Target.  I love that the hubs can load it up with food and just carry it inside or to the nearby outdoor dining table.

The second shelf is great for holding extra serving supplies, such as a cuttlery caddy, glasses and even our little butter boy.

On the lowest shelf, I took an old bucket which was starting to show it's age {similar to these from IKEA}.

And gave it a few coats of spray paint, along with a vinyl label.

And now it is perfect for holding our charcoal for the grill!

And the rest is just happy goodness on an entertaining cart.

Overall, I am giddy excited with what my $4 investment in some Rub n' Buff and some already owned spray paint accomplished!

Are you a grilling addict as well?  Or a fan of outdoor entertaining carts?  Anyone else find something in their home recently, which was given new life and a new task?