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Tray Makeover Ideas (8 ways!) So many different things you can do with old thrift store trays!

Hello beautiful friends! Today I thought I would share trays, trays, and more trays!! Haha! I do make over quite of few of these so I thought I’d share some of the different ways I do. Trays are great for all kinds of things in your home and decor and are usually easy to find at the thrift store, so I hope this will be an inspiring post for you.

Tray Makeover Ideas

Tray makeover ideas you can do! These are not hard to do.
That’s the best part! Well, the best part is that you paid thrift store prices for a beautiful piece for your home. Even better!

Click the link underneath each photo for the full tutorial and details on each tray project.

TRANSFERS

This old tray has a wonderful new look.

It always amazes me how different things can look! (you can find this pretty transfer here)

See more here “Floral Tray Makeover with Transfer”

This one goes from dark…

…to light…with butterflies. (you can find this transfer here)

See more here “Thrifty Butterfly Tray Makeover“

Can you imagine painting a metal tray like this? You can.

And I did! (this transfer is no longer available but you could do something similar with this one here)

See more here “French Rose Decal Tray Makeover“

Remember these two metal trays?

They look completely different now with paint and transfers. (you can find these transfers here,hereand here)

See more here “Two Trays Two Ways“

This is a tiled tray that gets “butterfly” tiles instead of fruit!

I painted it white, used caulk to fill all the gaps, and used pretty butterflies on the tile along with some script too. (you can find the butterfly & script transfer here)

See more here “Butterfly Tray Makeover“

Basket tray, but bleh.

Not bleh anymore! Paint and transfers updated this one into something special.

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See more here “French Basket Tray“

TISSUE PAPER 

So many things you could do with this one.

I created a napkin decoupage design for it.

See more here “Wood and Metal Tray Makeover“

This was an interesting tray!

Sort of “basket-ish”. I painted it and added this pretty tissue paper. (you can find the tissue paper here)

See more here “Decoupage Tissue Paper Tray“

Another metal tray that I brightened up!

And added tissue paper.

See more here “Mini Tray Makeover with Tissue Paper“

STAIN

Sometimes you don’t even have to do much! If anything.

I changed this one up only slightly with the help of some stain. The design shows through but has a completely different look now. (you can find the stain here)

See more here “Stained Tray Makeover“

Worn out wood tray. What to do?

Sand it! (and apply a new and different stain) Wow, what a difference!

See more here “Kitchen Island Tray Makeover“

PAINT

Metal tray?

Paint it!

See more here “Compass Rose Tray“

Old cow tray, knobs, and handles.

Put together to create this new look.

See more here “Dated Decor Turned Weathered Finish Tray“‘

This is a tray I have owned for over 25 years at this point. I painted it this color at some point in the past.

Then painted it again and gave it the look it has had ever since.

See more here “White and Gold Tray Makeover“

PRINTABLES

I see basket trays from time to time too.

I painted this one and added a printable. (it’s in our free library!)

See more here “Merry Christmas Printable Tray“

This was a “playing card” tiled tray to start.

I gave it some color with pretty floral images I found online and printed out.

See more here “Botanical Decoupage Makeover“

TILE

Another wood tray! I love wood trays because there is so much you can do.

And for this one, I tiled it with pretty mother-of-pearl tiles. (you can find the tiles here)

See more here “Mother Of Pearl Tiled Tray“

Nothing special about this one to make it stand out.

But now it does! TILE…what a difference tile makes, right??

See more here “Simple Thrift Store Tray Makeover with Tile“

This one didn’t even have a bottom when I found it. Weird.

But no worries, a bottom it got along with the prettiest blue and white tiles.

See more here “DIY Blue and White Tile Tray Makeover“

Okay, so this one didn’t start out as a tray, but it is a tray now!

With those raised sides, it was just begging for tile and handles (and knobbed feet) to be a tray.

See more here “Thrift Store Makeover with Tile“

SCRAPBOOK PAPER

I never realized I found TWO of the same tray until now! Not exact but pretty darn close, too funny!

Well, this one got paint, “feet” and scrapbook paper!

See more here “Scrapbook Paper Decoupage Tray Makeover“

REPURPOSED

This is still a tray makeover because it is a tray.

But now it’s a “message center”! This one was so much fun to do!

See more here “Repurposed Tray Turned Message Center“

Lots of different ways to update and give trays a whole new look! I hope these tray makeover ideas will inspire you on your next thrifting trip or even provide inspiration for any tired home decor you may have!

PIN it to save it!

Go find a tray or two to give a new look to!

xo