A Gin Bar With Change From A Tenner

I’m not sure how appropriate this post is for the week before Christmas. I mean who has the time amongst all that wrapping, shopping, dinner prepping, nativity watching and prosecco drinking to DIY their own drinks cart? Not me, but maybe you’ll have some time in the funny bit between Christmas and New Year or in January to make your own if you fancy it so perhaps bookmark the post and come back to it.

You may remember I really, really wanted a luxe bar cart for my snug. Alas by the time we’d splashed out on the sofa and the ottoman there was no money left in the kitty. I started hunting for a similar table to my Cox and Cox Tray Table but the wooden ones were going more down a shabby chic route and some of them seemed very expensive for what is essentially a TV table with a sides on top. And that’s when I had my light bulb moment. Enter the £7.99 Argos Folding Tray Table – the hub of the TV dinner. Now all the other items involved in this were already owned – you’ll need minimal paint, a few offcuts of wood and some hardware. If you don’t have the wood or handles to hand then look to invest about £20 in the project instead.

• Firstly we chopped off the rounded corners of the table top to make a straight edges and right angles
• After deciding we wanted fairly chunky sides to create the tray effect, we found some offcuts in the garage and cut them to length to match the outer edges of the table top
• James cut the ends in a mitre box to create a perfect 45 degree angle so the sides would meet neatly
• Then it was simply a case of securing the sides to the top. We used a dab of wood glue and secured with some screws from underneath.
• The rest was cosmetic. We primed first with a normal primer and then the whole thing was painted with Laura Ashley’s Eggshell in Pale Dove Grey
• The campaign style hardware was taken off another one of my DIY projects which kept the cost down however you can pick up the brass corners and flush drop handles inexpensively on eBay.

The little mirrored tray was picked up from a florist from Balham several years ago. It was in my bedroom until recently but I think it’s better suited with a bit of gin on it instead.
It’s a shame you can’t really buy a bottle of gin for less than a tenner but at least I managed to upcycle a table for them all to stand on and still have change from a ten pound note. Enjoy responsibly lovely ladies.

{STEAL THE STYLE}