ReVamp: Rolling Cart

I've wanted a rolling cart for a good minute. There's really only two places for these things: thrift stores and super pricey/trendy furniture stores (weird how that is, right?). I never actively looked, but knew that if i saw one, i'd take advantage. This is also the way i feel about meteor showers.

Luckily, before my neighbors moved, they put a lot of stuff on the common area for trash pickup and when i saw this guy out there, i had to rescue him.

Can you see its potential?

The first step was scraping off the sludge.

After four bottles of dish soap and a few magic erasers, it shines:

The next step was to wait eight weeks until spring showed up and the temperature was right for spray painting. But prepping it was the step after that one. It has these clear wheels and i'm not sure what i plan to do with them yet, but i know i didn't want to paint them the same color as the cart. I tried taking them off and they wouldn't budge...so i covered them in foil.

Now that it's naked-to-the-metal, it's ready for the painting step:

I chose Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze, and here's what it looked like after one coat:

I took this close-up pic below so that you could see that it is indeed oil rubbed bronze and not black, but alas, it still looks black. Just trust that it's different in person.

While that was drying in between coats, i got started on the glass. I did not want plain glass on a table because it always looks dirty, even if it's just a few water spots. Or the pollen that will come through here trying to impregnate everything in the next month or so. So i decided to frost them. I used Rustoleum's Frosted Glass spraypaint. You can kind of see the difference with just one thin coat (top):

When it dried, i stuck it back on the deck to serve its daytime purpose: to hold water toys.

 I got the two little baskets at the dollar store, but now i'm thinking i just want one large one. Here's what it looks like filled with toys. And i can post a picture in a few months when we use it to hold drinks and snacks when we have the fire pit going out there.

It's a HUGE upgrade from what we had there before, which was a wrought iron/stone topped console table that held...nothing. It was just in the way. I got rid of it on FreeCycle.

Now we have more function and more space. I can put the kids' water table out there next to the rolling cart instead of having it take up deck space.

Total cost of this project: $15. $13 for the spray paint, and $2 for the baskets.

Progress pics:

This project was made possible by my dad & stepmom who took my oldest kid for the day, thus allowing me to get something done during my youngest kid's nap time. Thanks, guys!

***UPDATE***

I decided on one large basket instead of the two smaller ones so i could sleep at night:

That brings the new project total to $19. $13 for the spray paint, $6 for the basket. Ratty yardwork shoes that i never bothered to move at all while taking these pictures: priceless.