Changing Table: Ikea Bar Cart Hack with Faux Cement Tile

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! Because I love you all, I have added some new printables to my library which are all featured in today’s post! I have been dying to add a bar cart to our decor for a while now, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend the money on it, especially since we have a wet bar. But on a recent trip to Ikea, I saw the Sniglar Changing Table and a light bulb went off in my head. Not only was it the perfect size, but I had Ikea store credit to spend!

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In addition to wanting to add a bar cart, I have been searching for a chance to use cement tile for something and this bar cart seemed like the perfect something! I found some great tile options but after calculating how much I needed, not only was the cost adding up, but so was the weight. Then I saw some pictures on Instagram from Cutting Edge Stencil. This was the perfect solution to my design! I ordered the Jewel Tile stencil in the small size. The entire project technically only cost me $25 because I had Ikea credit, but had I not, it still would have been under $65 which is much less than the bar carts I was eyeing for $200. So I will call that a win.

So how did I do it? First, I am going to encourage you to read this if you want to create your own, because let’s just say I learned a few lessons on this one.

Step 1 – Purchase the Ikea changing table. You could re-purpose an old one your kids have outgrown or even find it used on Craig’s List.

Step 2 – Prep the changing table for paint. I must admit, I put my changing table together first and then painted it. DO NOT DO THIS! I spent a bunch of time taping off the inside of the changing table tray only to find out I needed to prime the white part of the tray in order for the paint to adhere. I did think about this in the beginning, but I convinced myself I could make it work. FAIL. I painted mine and then had to take it apart. See….

Step 3 – Paint the changing table. I used Deep Onyx by Glidden. I ordinarily buy a higher quality paint which normally means thicker but I knew I was going to use our paint sprayer which requires the paint to be thinned so there was no point in wasting money on a higher quality paint. Remember, I painted mine assembled. I DO NOT recommend this.

Step 4 – Prime the panel inserts for the changing table tray. I used ceiling paint because we didn’t have any primer and this was the only flat paint we had. It actually worked really well though because our ceiling paint is the kind that goes on pink and dries white so you can see where you have painted already, which really helped on the white background.

Step 5 – Once the inserts are dry, lay out the stencil. I started in the middle and worked my way out. On the first panel I used the same paint I used on the frame and a foam roller.

After stenciling the first few squares, I was definitely a little disappointed. The lines were not as crisp as I was hoping and I was having a hard time lining them up.

It looked fine when the entire panel was done, but I decided to use a different method for the next panel. On the second one I used a foam craft brush and black craft paint. I also washed the stencil off between each square. I’m not going to lie, this took about three times longer to do, but it turned out SO much better.

Step 6 – Fearful my paint would chip on the tray portion of the table, I coated each of the panels with a thin layer of polyurethane. This did tone down the bright white a bit making it more of a cream color. Just for a comparison, the left side has poly and the right doesn’t.

Step 7 – Once the polly is 100% dry, (I let mine dry over night) assemble the changing table. Be very careful not to damage the stenciled finish when sliding the panels into the tray.

Step 8 – Add wheels. I have to be honest, I skiped this step for two reasons. A) I am not a tall person, 5’1″, so the table was already the perfect height for me. B) After all the fun mishaps with doing this in the wrong order and the stencil taking longer than anticipated, I didn’t want to risk messing it up at this point. So I decided my cart would be stationary

Step 9 – Style your cart! This was my favorite part I added all of the essentials plus four new bar themed printables. Sign up now to get yours free!

Now, I have a completely custom bar cart for a fraction of what it would have cost to buy!

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