See our cute new tray table? I love it! But it hasn’t always been so nice…
First I found this nasty little stool:
Then I saw this worn out Swedish tray:
And I thought, hmmm…the stool has nice legs, and that carpet probably comes right off…so…we bought both, despite Evan’s resistance. I got to work right away pulling out the staples holding the carpet (latch hook, actually!):
Happily, what was under the stinky carpet turned out to be ugly-but-smooth melamine on top of seriously water-damaged plywood:
A quick coat of flat black paint to hide the edges of the plywood, some gentle care with Murphy’s Oil Soap and SC Johnson Paste Wax (the two things you absolutely need if you have a lot of wood floors and wood furniture!) for the tray, et voilà! Stool + tray = a perfect little table, for next to no cost.
Bruno agrees (Evan does, too)!
18 Comments
it is so beautiful, worth all the work you’ve put in it. wow! with that rug and dog – almost too beautiful 😉
You have an artistic eye for sure. I’ve never come up with this table beginning with a tray and a stool. Nice work.
Fabulous! I need to be more inventive like you!
By the way, that was a seriously ugly little stool!
Great save!
I was just thinking in that first photo that your rug looked like your dog!
Nice work on the table. I have quite a different aesthetic than you in my own home, but I really appreciate what you do and find it beautiful and interesting.
Great finds and bit of DIY!!!
genius!
and i love how bruno blends into the rug. now you see him, now you don’t.
that is brilliant, and i need that wood paste wax!
Lena, you can get the wax at Lowes! I don’t know of any other place to get it (other than mail order). It’s great stuff.
This is great! So simple and yet not many people would think about doing it.
Your dog is so cute. Morran has a friend almost like him.
FABulous.
I used to rug-hook when I was a kid. Heh.
you are a genius!
Great! I like it, it goes really well with the rest of your furniture. I also admire your vintage unit (in the dining room) very much. I wish we had something similar!
Thank you for all the nice comments about my humble little table, everyone! 🙂
Lavinia, the Eames unit in dining room isn’t vintage, actually…we bought it new. Herman Miller is still producing them (57 years since they were first introduced):
http://dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=6727
Pure genius!
Wow, this is so inventive! What an amazing DIY-idea!
did you attach the tray to the stool or is it sitting on top? beautiful!