Decorative Tray

Recently my office at work under went a major renovation. Walls were knocked down, moved and rebuilt; new carpet & flooring was installed; and fresh paint was put on the new walls. Previously my office was the size of a closet…a very small closet. I could barely fit another person in there with me. Not to mention, there was a rather large column/pole in the middle of the room. 

Given its size, I never bothered to put any thought into decorating the office. I just had a few pictures randomly placed and that was about it. Unfortunately, I never took a picture of what it looked like previously.  

With the new renovation, they made my office significantly bigger. I decided now that the office is larger, I might as well put a little effort into the décor. After all, I spend the majority of my waking hours there!

I stole a few DIY ideas from pinterest to use as the new décor. In the next week or two, I’ll have a few posts featuring the items I tried to make. Then hopefully, I’ll have a post with a reveal of the finished office. (It’s not quite done yet.)

First up is this Martha Stewart tray I’ve had posted since the summer. I figured it might be nice to go on my desk and hold my stapler, tape, etc.

MarthaStewart.com

It looked simple enough. Basically, it’s just covering a cookie sheet with fabric.

So, I gathered my supplies.

There isn’t a fabric store convenient for me to get to.  I had to improvise with the fabric and ended up buying a shower curtain from Target. I decided to go with a blue theme/look throughout the office. In hindsight, blue does not match the new carpet they installed but its too late now!

I started by cutting my fabric to cover the tray.

Then I sprayed the adhesive glue on the tray and smoothed the fabric onto the tray. Apparently, I didn’t cut my fabric square big enough so on the first tray I made, it barely made it to the back of the tray.

I also had a difficult time wrapping the corners of the tray. I have no idea how Martha’s tray came out so seamless! Mine ended up looking like amateur hour!

After adhering the fabric, I cut a piece of felt to fit the bottom of the tray and glued it on. I neglected to take of picture of this step.

Martha also has a step to place an acrylic sheet cut to fit in the inside of the tray. I had no idea where to purchase an acrylic sheet so I skipped it.

I ended up making two trays. Both came out less then ideal. However, I have one on my desk currently and with everything in it, it really looks cute. I even got a compliment on it the other day!

Honestly, I was in a rush when I made them. I think if I took my time I could have fixed the corners a bit and made it more professional looking. Martha’s site has a video of how she did it. She makes it look a bit easier then it really is but the video does help a great deal.

Stay tuned for more office décor projects!