So I, Jenny, found this fantastic garden cart (below) on Craigslist! I fell in love with the color, the chippy paint… the price! It was fantastic! Have you seen all those railway carts turned coffee tables? Of course you have. They are fabulous! Well, my idea was to do something similar… not a copy of those, but to reinvent it in our own, quirky way. I brought it over to my brother’s house for him to work on. After all, he’s the handy one!
It’s me again. Bear. You start with a garden wagon that your sister wheels up and tells you she thinks would make a great coffee table. (Pause.) The wheeled under-mount was removed.
I pried away all the flaking rusted metal pieces, since I wanted it as clean as possible. I didn't want the rust falling all over the floor once I brought it inside the house…
So I used a wire brush to clean off the loose rust, and used a shop vac to suck up the rest of the dust created by the scrubbing.
The hinges were also really rusted, which I love the look of, but doesn't bode well for using as furniture inside if paint is flaking off every day.
The hinges turned out pretty well too.
I wanted to use rough cut barn wood for the top of the table. The only problem is that these were too rough. I used 60 grit sandpaper first, and then followed that up with 100 grit to smooth it out further.
A view of the before and after…
I used some tools to further distress the wood. I had some left over installation hangers and chisels that I hammered into the wood.
When staining the wood, you can coat the wood with water first, so that the stain does not evenly apply, giving it an aged look.
The sun is shining on this, so the color of the stain doesn't really show through.
The base was constructed by stripping down the other piece of barn wood, and sanding the heck out of it. I wanted a smaller base so that people's feet could fit under the table when sitting at it. I also wanted the base tall enough so that the sides of the cart could all be lowered and still clear the ground.
I used wooden dowels to hold the base together.
I notched a square our of the sides of the base so I could further support the structure with a connection piece. I first started the whole with a drill, and then squared the corners with a jig saw.
I glued and tacked the connecting piece in place.
Then I filled the remaining gap with wood filler and sanded it clean.
The bottom of the metal cart was bolted to the top of the wooden base first. The wood piece was stained first. This way if I ever wanted to remove the wooden top I have planned for the cart, and just have the metal top show, then the base underneath will still have the stain finish on it.
I added spacers on top of the metal cart so that the top wood pieces will lay flush with the top of the metal sides.
Again I used my "distressers" with the top pieces.
Close up of the distressing. I like the installation hanger, because it looks as if this wood was used in shipping freight or something of that nature.
The top wood was screwed to the spacers from underneath as to keep a clean look. Two coats of poly-acrylic was used to give it a sealed and shiny finish. The base was also stained and sealed.
The color of the wood matches well with the rust of the metal cart. The color of stain was dark walnut.
This may look really top heavy and easy to tip. However, because the bottom of the cart is the heaviest point, it stays very well balanced.
The door can swing down and still clear the floor. This way people can choose to have the coffee table function at two levels easily.
And that’s how I did it. I’ll admit, when Jenny rolled the cart up I thought she was nuts. But I caught the vision and added my own spin to the piece. I’m happy with how it turned out.
This is one of the things that I LOVE about working with my brother on these projects! He’s not just handy, he’s got an artistic eye, and it’s usually when I bring my finds and ideas to the table, and then he adds that spin of his to it, that we end up with something we’re both really proud of. Thanks for checking it out!
