DIY Pipe Bar Cart

Look what I made! My first piece of furniture that I designed and built all by my lonesome!

Life Designed

When my friend said she needed a bar cart for her new home, it didn't surprise me one bit!
I had meant to talk to her about it a while ago, but with everything else we had to focus on, the bar cart got sent to the back burner. 

I thought about converting an old change table into a cart but hadn't found anything that would be suitable for her style.

She had mentioned before that she loves shelving made from pipes which I love. Like really really love.  

The Brick House

I would love to do something like this for her living room shelving or kitchen pantry shelving but in the mean time, why not build a bar cart using this idea?

Here's my super rough sketch. Haha Don't judge! Drawing is not my forte.

Life Designed

With this in mind, I was off to Home Depot where I quickly found what I needed.

Life Designed

I got 1/2" galvanized steel pipes and connectors. The smaller pieces were just over a buck each! Sweet! However, my joy quickly dissipated because boy, those little buggers really add up! The longer pieces were about $5 each.

My first trip (there were 4) I spent $75!

Dang... it might be cheaper to just buy a cart! 

For shelving, I got a 1" x 12" x 72" pine board (to be stained) and got it cut in half- I actually had to go back and get 1" cut off each board because they were just a tad too long didn't sit nicely on the pipes. 

The steel strapping was used to secure the pipes to the underside of the shelves:

Life Designed

Life Designed

I really had no idea what I was doing to be honest. I had no blueprint, no real game plan...I kind of just jumped right into it. 

I started from the top shelf- which was a mistake. It was not coming together nicely (hard to tell from this picture but everything was wonky) so disassembled and decided to start from scratch- this time from the bottom. 

A few times I was ready to throw in the towel. It was just not happening.

But I realize us artsy folk are #1 stubborn and #2 a little bit crazy. We wouldn't get anywhere otherwise! 

Life Designed

It took me 6+ hours to get to this point. 

That includes 4 trips to Home Depot, sanding/staining the shelves and spray painting the pipes. Not to mention all the measuring/remeasuring, assembling/disassembling, sketching/thinking involved.

You also have to be mindful of the order in which you start assembling all the parts. It's like a puzzle. If you're an eager beaver like me, this means you have to assemble and disassemble a few times in order to get it right. 

I also measured and pre drilled holes for casters on the bottom shelf. I'll be adding them later- can't have the cart rolling away as I'm trying to build it!

At this point, I was pretty happy with it! How industrial and rustic!

But as you can see, I neglected to account for a rail of some sort for the bottom shelf...

So the next day, I made my 4th trip to Home Depot and added this rail! You can't tell, but I cheated and used wooden dowels and lighter weight copper connectors because the cart was getting really really heavy.

I also got some wood- which I measured, cut and stained to make a glass rack:

Life Designed

I waited a little while and when the wood glue seemed dry enough, I decided against my better judgement to give it a test run. And...that's when this:

Life Designed

Became this:

Life Designed

Oops.

Undried glue: 1
Eager beaver: 0

I reapplied the glue and walked away. The next day:

Life Designed

No broken glass here! There's enough room to fit 6 glasses- I just grabbed what I could find in my house- minus the ones I broke. =(

Life Designed

I still have to put the casters on- I was just too eager to post this! Thankfully I already pre-drilled the holes so they should be easy to install. 

I gotta say...I'm so so happy and really surprised I pulled it off!

Now it's time to gather all my receipts...

Total cost: $150.21

Perhaps a wee bit on the pricey end considering you can buy a bar cart for the same price, if not cheaper. But! I promise none will be as cool as this! At least that's what I keep telling myself. =)

This weekend I'm helping my sister and brother in law fix up their basement a little bit and maybe - maybe- attempting to make a little console table for my other sister.

What are your weekend plans?