DIY Coffee Table Trays

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through some shops on Main Street in Venice and happened across these cute lacquered boxes and matching tray. I. Had. To. Have. Them.

Til I saw the price, that is. The set of two boxes was marked at $130. The tray alone was around the same price. Too much for something trendy.

So I did like any good little rehabber would and drove to the craft store. I found some wood boxes and trays, got some paint and brushes, bought a spray on lacquer, and went home and got to work.

Now the trays weren’t exactly the right shape, but I figured they would be good enough. The edges were rough, so I sanded them a little first. I found that using a sponge brush looked a lot cleaner than a paint brush. I ended up doing two coats of acrylic paint.

Spraying on the lacquer was pretty easy. It seemed a bit drippy and yellow at first, but dried clear. I tried painting one tray with lacquer that I had left over from a set of chairs, but ended up liking the spray better.

I’ll probably end up spraying it once more with the lacquer; the wood was a bit porous. Next time, I will prime the trays for sure. All in all, though, a pretty successful venture. I ended up saving about 80% of the cost, and had a lot of fun making these babies.