There is something about a bar cart that just calls out for casters.
I knew they were destined for my little changing table-into-bart cart makeover and my thoughts were seconded when I posted a picture of the bar cart “before” on Instagram and my very design-savvy friend said this:
Isn’t it great to have people in your life who just GET you?? 🙂
After I painted the changing table, it was still kind of looking like a changing table, but with glasses on it instead of diapers. It definitely needed to be kicked up a notch.
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I ordered these brass ball casters from Amazon – I loved them but they were MUCH bigger than I anticipated and the wimpy leg of the table was too narrow for the hole I’d need to drill for these babies.
These antique brass casters are $9.10 each. I like the smaller scale of them but didn’t want to invest upwards of $45 with shipping into this little detail.
I happened to be at Lowes (I know, shocker) and came across a whole section of industrial-looking casters. For $3.74 I picked up 4 small stem casters and gave them a little makeover to make this piece look less like a changing table and more like beverage cart.
Here’s a quick how-to.
First up, I placed the changing table upside down on a soft surface (my living room rug) and used a progression of drill bits to make the hole for the caster in the table legs. I started with a very small drill bit to avoid splitting the wood, and gradually drilled a hole that is slightly smaller than the caster stem.
After I drilled the hole, I used a rubber mallet to bang the caster into the leg. The little “crown” of teeth on top of the caster is supposed to sink into the wood, but I couldn’t get all of mine to sink in very far, which is fine by me.
After the casters were in place, I took out my trusty Gold Leaf Rub n’ Buff and used a small paint brush to get the R&B into all the nooks and crannies of the caster, letting some of the black peek out to give them an antique brass look. I avoided the little ball bearings inside the caster as they are what make the casters movable. You could also spray paint the casters, just make sure to not get the paint inside or your casters will be immobile.
At first I didn’t coat the outside of the wheel with R&B but after I got the table upright, the black part was screaming at me, “I’m a cheap plastic caster from Lowes!!!” so I put a piece of paper towel under each one and R&Bd every bit of the wheel. I was a little fearsome that I’d have gold streaks across my wood floors after rolling the cart, but once the R&B dried, it was fine. I would guess that with a lot of rolling around it would wear off eventually though.
Under close scrutiny, the little crown is apparent and they are not perfect,
but you wouldn’t notice unless you’re crawling around on the floor, which hopefully, if you come to visit, you won’t do 🙂
Not bad for $3.74 plus a little R&B right? A quick project that definitely made this piece look a little less like a changing table.
Here are some other things you could add casters to in your house:
A basket (think kids’ toys, blankets, magazines!)
A wooden crate.
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A kitchen island!!
An ottoman (this one was made from scratch!!)
Storage cubes….
One of my friends just bought two of these to use as a coffee table in a small TV room, and I think casters would be great on them!
I love the pretty little detail of casters on a piece of furniture, how about you??
To see the final reveal of the changing table I repurposed into a beverage cart, click here.
To see how to make DIY “mercury” glass like the bar cart shelves click here.
