How to Paint an Old Wooden Tray with Tiles

Even just a few months ago I probably would have passed on this ugly wooden tray that I found at my local Salvation Army.  It’s so dark and outdated!  But one of my Thrift Store Makeover Facebook Group (join us HERE) members recently shared a tile tray project.  It was so cute that when I saw this one for $6.99 I had to get it.  That’s a little more than I’d usually pay for a thrift store tray but this one is HEAVY and I had a feeling that the green in those tiles would perfectly match the shade of green I used on a recent jewelry cabinet makeover.

Here’s what the wooden tray looked like when I found it.

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Supplies Needed for Wooden Tray Makeover

• wooden tray from the thrift store
• Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint in Enchanted
• Chalky Finish Paint in Carbon
• Glazing Medium
• paintbrushes – I used this 1.5″ angled brush.
• sanding sponges
• Americana Decor Light Satin Varnish

How to Paint the Wooden Tray

I started by cleaning the tray with a rag and spray cleaner.  My plan was to just paint around the tile but when I turned it upside down 2 of the tiles fell out.  It just took a little tap on the floor to knock the rest of them out.  That actually made painting MUCH easier!

I just gave it one messy coat of green paint.  I knew I wanted it to be highly distressed, so why put on more paint if you know you’re gonna take it off again?

Once it was completely dry, I sanded it hard with my sanding block.

Then I mixed some black paint and glazing medium, painted on a coat, and wiped it off with a rag.  This left the dark color in the recessed areas and made them stand out.

My Finished Tray Makeover

What do you think?  That green paint matches pretty good, right?

Now the green tile tray is sitting on my kitchen table with a mason jar of flowers that I put together at a baby shower last week.  BTW, if you’re planning a shower any time soon, that was a FUN thing to do.  Much more fun than playing a game.   At least in my opinion.  The hostess sat out buckets of flowers and a bunch of jars and old vases.  We all got to put together a bouquet to take home.

If you enjoyed this wooden tray makeover, you might also like these:

• DIY Condiment Tray
• Remote Control Tray Makeover
• My Favorite Tray Makeover
• $2 Thrift Store Tray Makeover
• TV Tray Makeover

Have you bought a thrift store wooden tray recently?  I’d love to hear about it.  Leave a comment and let me know what you did to update it.  Thanks for reading! We share with these blog parties.

‘Til the next project,

 Ann @ Duct Tape and Denim

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