tray chic // diy

I LOVE me some Breakfast in bed. Except for the fact that someone's got to get up and make it, breakfast in bed is like having room service at home.

I knew when we got engaged that I wanted to register for a breakfast tray, but couldn't find one that I liked enough. I'm super indecisive. So, it didn't happen.

Months later, though, I was browsing in a vintage shop and something called my name from the shelves. It looked something like this:

It was heaven-sent. It was juust big enough to carry two plates AND two cups of coffee, which makes it the perfect breakfast-in-bed tray. It was five bucks, compared to its regular almost-40. It had legs (which I initially planned on removing, but left them on when I discovered how handy they are).

The only negative thing about it? It was so booooo-ring! I knew I definitely wanted to paint or stain it to be much darker, and probably would line the bottom with something a bit more interesting. But again, my indecisiveness decided to rear its ugly head. I couldn't make up my mind on what I wanted to do!

So I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. There were so many options! I could use almost anything:

Fabric via Centsational Girl

Backsplash tile via just a girl

Patterned paper via eat live shop

Monogram via homeroad

Paint sticks via Sweet Charli

Which one did I choose? Well, if you were around a couple months ago , you already know which one I chose:

That's right, we went with backsplash tile! Easy to clean, pretty, and high-impact. It was also probably the most complicated solution, but I really really wanted it. I loved the offset pattern and the colors of this tile!

I probably should have stained/painted the tray before I laid the tile, but I was so excited. I slathered some thinset mortar along the bottom of the tray, stuck the tiles in (I got the tiles that came in a sheet--I'd have had never finished it if I had to do each tile one-by-one.), and let them dry overnight. Then, I darkened the wood using some dark wipe-on stain.

+ =

And that is how it remained for a good five months. 

From there, it was just a matter of mixing and applying some grout, but I just never got around to it. Until yesterday!! Since these tiles were made of glass and liable to scratching, I made sure to use non-sanded grout, which I happened to have left over from creating my custom-colored chalkboard paint. 

I taped it up, smeared it on, let it dry, wiped it off, and started using it again!

We love it. So much so that we used it during last night's Movie Night! (anyone seen the "new" Sherlock Holmes movie? We thought it was great--but then again, it was Robert Downey Jr, and you can't really go wrong with him).

How would you bling out a serving tray? If I didn't have to share mine with Tim, I probably would have covered mine in glitter, but I got vetoed.