Thrift Store Tray Makeover

I found a great little wooden tray at the new Goodwill here in Memphis a couple of weeks ago. The wood wasn't in the best shape but I loved the brassy gold handles and thought it had lots of potential.

Here is it after I picked it up for only $2.99.

I decided that I wanted to turn it into a chic piece to sit on an ottoman, and I wanted to accent the gold in the handles. I decided on a herringbone-type pattern and got to work. I gathered some black, white, and gold spray paint from the garage, some painter's tape, and some scrap paper and envelopes.

First, I taped off the center and handles, and gave the sides (both inside and out) a couple of coats of glossy black spray paint.

Next, I taped off the sides that I painted black, and used some acrylic white paint for the inside. I started with spray paint, but with the bad shape the wood was in, I wasn't getting enough coverage. Two coats of this acrylic did the trick!

 I then decided to do one row at a time. I taped off each line with painters tape, and used a piece of painters tape in between each to get the spacing right. You could also used a ruler, but this worked just fine! I then went to work with my gold spray paint to create the herringbone detail.

After spraying the first row and letting it dry, I taped off the second row, going in the opposite direction. The main thing to remember is to make sure the gold is only getting on the taped off areas and nowhere else.

 Here is what it looked like after painting the last row. I used Rust-oleum metallic finish in gold.

And here is my tray after! Hopefully this gives you a better idea of how I taped it off. Everywhere in white is where the painters tape was. I used one long strip down the side of each row to get a nice straight line in between each. It took about 2 hours total.

 Here is another view from the top. It is not 100% perfect, but I think that adds to the charm.

I threw a few accessories on top to give you an idea of how cute it looks all accessorized-up! Before really using it, I plan to spray a protective coat or two on top to keep the paint from chipping or getting damaged by glasses or whatever else it might end up holding.

Not bad for $2.99 + paint and supplies that I already had! It turned out exactly how I had hoped and I can't wait to use it!!