Wasn’t that so rude how I totally left you hanging yesterday? OMG I KNOW. BUT, it makes today’s post so much more dramatic! (Not really, but let’s pretend!)

In case you’ve forgotten, here’s how this project started:

Ah yes, the tetanus cart.

And here’s the finished product:

Because nothing goes better with bright green chairs than a farmhouse red bar cart, right? Right.

Obviously, there were a few steps in between the rust heap that we started with and the dazzling display of liquor goodness that we ended up with, so here’s how I did it:

How to Paint Metal (for non-crafty, whiney, non-DIYers like me)

Materials:

• Whatever it is that you’re painting
• Medium-grit sandpaper (I used 120)
• Clean rag
• Painters tape and plastic bags
• Spray Primer (I used 2 cans of KILZ Original Primer Sealer Spray)
• Spray Paint (I used 2 cans of Rustoleum Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover Gloss Spray Paint in Colonial Red)

1. I sanded the surface of the cart a bit to try and smooth out some of the unevenness. By “a bit,” I mean “barely at all,” because I hate sanding.
2. Wipe down the cart and make sure all dust is removed.
3. Cover wheels with plastic and tape in place (since you won’t want to paint those). *This was super annoying and KC finally stepped in an did it for me after I whined for like 10 minutes straight. (Like I said: not crafty, not patient.)
4. Spray at least two solid coats of primer, allowing at least 30 minutes in between each coat to dry. Touch up after each coat.
5. Spray at least two solid coats of paint, allowing at least 30 minutes in between each coat to dry. Touch up after each coat.

Ideally, you wouldn’t want to leave the cart out in the rain at this point — but that’s exactly what we did (not exactly on purpose). We had both been working outside (me: painting a metal cart, him: assembling an outdoor heat lamp and helping me with the annoying parts of painting a metal cart), and decided to grab Thai food after finishing up our projects. I asked if we should move the cart inside to dry, since it looked like it might rain. KC assured me that it wouldn’t rain and said we should just leave it outdoors.

It totally got rained on.

Luckily, this Rustoleum business seems to be pretty amazing and waterproof (one of the major reasons I chose it), so the cart wasn’t worse for wear at all.

So here are some of the steps in picture form:

Primed:

Painted:

Ready for business: