Buffalo Check Kitchen Cart Makeover

by: Jo

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When we rented our first apartment way back in 1996, McGeeky and I needed a little more working room in the kitchen. We purchased a shiny, red kitchen cart that looked great with our Coca-Cola themed kitchen. A couple more apartments and three homes later, we still have the cart, but it doesn't match anything in our current house. I decided to give it new life with a decorative paint job that would make it match our family room perfectly.

First, I removed the doors and primed them with some light-colored chalk paint I had on hand. I wanted to eventually use Satin Enamels in Slate Blue for the final coat but that red was so strong I thought I needed a base first and I also know how well the chalk paint sticks to super slick surfaces!

I wanted to add a buffalo check to the door inserts. To create this pattern, you need to first tape off some lines using painter's tape, making the tape strips as far apart as they are wide. Then add some black paint to your base color and paint over the lines between the tape. Remove the tape and let it dry.

Apply more tape strips horizontally, again making them the same distance apart. Mix a little less black into your base color than before so that it is lighter than the first round and paint the areas between the tape. Do not remove the tape after this step.

With the last set of tape strips still in place, apply yet another layer of tape, perpendicular to the last set, and again with the same spacing. Mix some of your base color with a small amount of black to create a lighter shade than last time. Paint between the tape, and let dry.