In April, I celebrated my 21st birthday.  I have much admired the idealistic lounge image produced by the Rat Pack, and the pictures from Ultra-Lounge liner notes.  Having purchased a rather awesome ice bucket (pictures on my flickr!), I have since wanted to put a bar in my pad to show it off and have something to serve drinks from when I have parties, however, the apartment isn’t all that large, leaving little room to create such.  I spent a day running around to the various Goodwills, Saint Vincent de Pauls, and even TJ Maxx and Target.   When at Target, I came across a $49.99 kitchen cart, seen on the left.  While more than I wanted to spend, I felt it was perfect in size, and with a few customizations, it would be just what I wanted.

Knowing I wanted to cover up the unsightly black metal, I went to Jo Ann Fabrics and purchased a yard of black vinyl (vinyl is easy to clean in case of a party foul) and some Velcro (for easy removal) and got to work.  First, I measured how long the vinyl had to hang, marked it, then cut it – I used an X-acto knife and ruler, instead of scissors.  I hot glued the soft side of the Velcro to the edge of the wood block.  I then glued the opposite piece of Velcro to the cleaner cut edge of the vinyl.  This gave the bar a cleaner, more lounge-y look.  This kitchen cart came with metal grate shelves, which aren’t very nice when it comes to storing bar ware and the like.  Luckily enough, I had some panes of glass stored in the closet, and I had the Craft Center on my college campus cut them down to the sizes I needed to give me a smooth surface to store items.

I then sketched out a few designs for a name I wanted for the bar.  I eventually settled on “Atomic Lounge” with a boomerang image, martini and with the atom image as the olive in the martini, as well as the “o” in “Atomic”.  I settled on creating a computer image of my design in Photoshop, instead of hand painting it or something.  I’ll admit, I am not all that computer savvy, and I am extremely intimidated by Photoshop.  Thankfully, my boyfriend (who did this entire website) is a computer wizz, and being a photographer and graphic designer, he has a way with Photoshop.  Using his Wacom tablet, he whipped out my sketch in the computer, and printed it out on sturdy paper and then laminated it.  I then used the remaining piece of Velcro to attach the sign to the vinyl.  And TA-DA there you have it, your very own mini bar fit for any swanky affair you may have for you and your fellow lounge lizards and pretty pin-ups!  Plus, it easily tucks away for easy storage.

Materials List

If you wish to create what I did, here is a complete list of items you will need…

• Kitchen cart, Target, $49.99
• One yard of black vinyl, Jo Ann Fabrics, $12.99
• Two packs of black Velcro, Jo Ann Fabrics, $0.99 each
• Hot glue gun
• X-acto knife
• Ruler
• Marker

Enjoy, and please remember, drink responsibly!