Hello, beautiful friends, and welcome to another edition of Trashy Treasures Tuesday! It’s that time again where I and three of my favorite upcyclers all share fabulous trash to treasure makeovers. I’m sharing how to repurpose a tray into a shelf, and then you’ll find the links to my friends’ makeovers at the bottom!
Let’s go!
This is what I started with:
I paid more for it than I would have liked at $9.99, but my plan was originally to just stick it in my booth as is.
But, I decided I’d rather redo it instead.
I recently redid this unfortunate wall art that I found while thrifting with Nancy:
See more of this makeover and a video of us thrifting HERE.
I ended up flipping it over and turning it into a tray. However, it reminded me so much of the tray I’m redoing today, that it made me really want to change this one up!
I’ve included a few affiliate links so you can find the products I love.
Repurpose A Tray into a Shelf
That’s when I got the idea to repurpose this tray into a shelf!
First, I needed all the pieces for my new shelf. The tray would become the backing and then I enlisted the help of a fence picket that I nabbed off the curb of one of my sister’s neighbors to create the shelves.
I cut three shelves using my miter saw:
(I have a 12″ sliding miter saw which is awesome since it allows you to cut pieces up to a foot. I linked to one similar above as I don’t know if Ryobi makes this style anymore.)
I only ended up using two of the cut pieces as my new shelves.
Then, I cut one of them like so using my Ryobi jigsaw:
(Corded version HERE.)
I cut it this way to wrap around the new backing which is the tray.
Paint
I painted both sides of the tray in Cotton:
I left some of the wood behind thinking I wanted this look. However, I ended up going more for a whitewashed look, painting it solid, and wiping it back with a clean cloth as I did here on the shelves:
It ended up pretty opaque since I didn’t water it down first and the dry wood really soaked up the paint.
I picked up these hooks and shelf brackets at Hobby Lobby. They all got painted in Cotton as well:
(If you don’t have a Hobby Lobby, you can find these brackets on Amazon HERE.)
Once they were dry, I sanded to distress them all…
I went a bit further and scraped some areas with a metal putty knife to reveal even more of what was underneath.
Assemble the shelf
Then, I put it all together!
Seal
To seal, I brushed on Clear Coat in Satin. I was afraid the sponge would get hung up on the rough surface, so that worked great.
I added sawtooth hanging hardware to the back, and that was it!
Repurpose a Tray into a Shelf Reveal
Here is how our new shelf looks now!
I didn’t do anything to the tray but paint it, so the new shelf backing has some thickness to it:
And as you can see there, I rested the top shelf on the top and the second shelf wraps around…
Here’s a better look at how the shelf wraps around…
It is all held together with the brackets.
I can see this in a bathroom as I’m suggesting here, but it would be great in a kitchen as well!
The hooks add just a bit more function:
And that is how I repurposed a tray into a shelf!
My friends have three more trashy treasures for y’all today!
Can you believe I only have ONE MORE PIECE LEFT?!
And that is this gigantic frame I picked up for $3 at a yard sale:
I tried really hard to combine it somehow with this shelf, but it just wasn’t happening. I think you will LOVE what I did with it though! I’ll be back with that on Thursday to close out this Fabulous 50 Fall Haul!
I hope to see you then!
UPDATE: Wait until you see how beautiful this frame is now!! See it HERE!
Oh and before I go, did you here that Dixie Belle has five new chalk mineral paint colors?? I’ll share more on that Thursday as well!!
XOXO,
Don’t Miss a Thing!
If you like what you see, there are several ways to follow along!
EMAIL * INSTAGRAM * FACEBOOK * PINTEREST
Get FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $50 in my Etsy shop. (No code needed at checkout!) Orders under $50 enjoy $8 flat rate shipping!
Most orders ship same or next business day! Visit my shop below!
Mary Kaiser says
Wow you made that so beautiful! It would go so good in my bathroom! So much better as a shelf than a tray. I love that you used a picket fench that you saved from the landfill!
Christy says
Thank you, Mary! It would be perfect in a bathroom for sure and yes, I love that I was able to use actual trash for Trashy Treasures Tuesday ha ha! XOXO
Cecilia says
Cute, cute, cute! What a great repurpose of that tray. The brackets add just the right decorative touch to soften the rusticness of the wood.
Can’t wait to see the new colors!
😊Cecilia
Christy says
Thank you, my friend! I love being able to change something completely like this. See ya Thursday! XOXO
Cyndi says
This is SO clever! I liked the tray, but this is so pretty–and useful!
Christy says
Thanks so much, Cyndi! Much better this way for sure! XOXO
Denise - Salvaged Inspirations says
This is an amazing idea, Christy and looks sooo elegant now! Love the styling as well. The milk glass is so sweet. Pinned XOXO
Christy says
Thank you so much, my friend! XOXO
Laura J. says
Christy, your sense of reimagination parallels no one!!! Love the double shelf!!! Beautiful & functional! You never run out of creative ideas!!! I so enjoy receiving your emails in my inbox… such a great way to start my day. Thank you!
Christy says
Oh I love this so much, Laura, thank you!! And I’m so thrilled you enjoyed this one! I really get a kick out of finding new uses for things! XOXO
Caye says
Oh my gosh, Girl! You knocked it out of the park once again! What a great idea. I’m sure it’ll sell fast. I love what you chose for hardware, too. Great job. Thanks for the inspiration.
Christy says
Thank you so much, my friend! This was such a fun one to reimagine! XOXO
p says
A cute remodel ! Love the added brackets. Sweet!
I love that the shelves wrap around. Nice carpentry skills !!!
Looks like you’ll need to start shopping again 🙂
Christy says
Thanks so much, P! I have been shopping all day…and I got lucky woohoo! XOXO
Marcie Lovett says
Brilliant repurpose, Christy! I love that the shelves hang off the edge instead of ending flush with the backing. I think it would be great in an entry, too – so many places it would be useful.
Christy says
Thank you so much, Marcie! Oh yes, perfect in an entry as a catch all! XOXO
Mary Loveland says
Wow, the shelf looks wonderful, what a great use of that tray! Doing the cutout was a great idea, gave you room to make everything look spacious. Great idea and gorgeous product.
Christy says
Thank you, Mary! I’m so glad you enjoyed this fun repurpose! XOXO
Marlene Stephenson says
Love this and what you did really added to the plain tray. Never would have thought to do a tray this away, very creative and more usable and pretty. Thanks for sharing.
Christy says
Thank you, Marlene! This was a fun one to reimagine! XOXO
Cletia says
How did you see that?? Incredible…and it’s so cute! Great vision. One more to go!
Christy says
I have NO idea ha ha! I just knew I wanted to try something different with it, and it turned out to be a fun one! I’m so glad you enjoyed, my friend! XOXO
Nancy @ Artsy Chicks Rule says
That wood is the perfect rustic look for this shelf!! Love it! xoxo
Christy says
Thank you, my friend! XOXO