DIY-ing is fun!

In December I saw an ad on Kijiji for 4 tv trays for $5. The flower pattern was not really my style, but I have been closely following about a dozen different DIY and Interior Design blogs since before we bought the house, so I assumed I could figure out how to make these tv trays look cool.

The idea is nice and simple. It's kind of retro-minimalist. While I wouldn't exactly define my style as "retro-minimalist", I have been learning that it's good to layer and combine different colours, fabrics, patterns, textures and styles to create your very own look.

So, I think these tv trays will fit nicely into my look. Whatever that is :)

This is the original tv tray with the old flower bouquet pattern.

It took a good half hour at Walmart the other day to decide what colour I wanted to use. I wanted something colourful, but also something that could go in any room. I thought pink would be cute. Or blue. But I decided on grey and white. I am going to paint my living room grey and white, so I thought the table would look good with those colours, since whatever i put on the table can add a splash of colour.

It also took me a while to decide on the new pattern. I finally decided on this stencil:

I thought it would look cute, and the grey and white would be subtle enough that it wouldn't be too high contrast (Steve doesn't like high contrast damask-like patterns).

So, I spray painted the tray white:

It took almost a whole can of spray paint to cover the original yellowish colour and the original flower pattern. Luckily it didn't take 100% of the can of paint because spray painting the stencil did not work well at all. I just re-painted the tray white and spent about a week thinking of how to get around using a stencil while still having some sort of design or pattern.

Finally I decided I'd try to make random stripes with tape.

It worked great! I really like it.

Here it is in the hallway with my new pink vase and a black and white engagement picture of Steve and I:

I bought 4 of these trays, and I don't know if I'll do the random stripe thing on all of them, or if I'll try different patterns and colours on the other 3.

Now to paint the legs... and the kitchen, living room, dining room, hallway, bedroom and bathroom :)