Serving Trays Made From Cabinet Doors

These cabinet doors had already been re-stained in a very dark color before the storm caused water damage. Thankfully the cabinet doors were okay and could be reused.

To start the prep work to make these doors in to serving trays, I first cleaned each door with soap and water.

Then I lightly sanded down the top side of the door with fine grit sandpaper.

The cabinet doors I used did not have handles so I didn't have to worry about filing in the old hardware holes. But if you do need to fill in the holes where the old hardware is, this can easily be done with paintable wood filler.

The next step was to apply two coats of white chalk paint on the door.

Using just regular blackboard chalk or pencils, I sketched out the designs I wanted on each cabinet door.

I know I wanted one for Fall and the second one with an American Flag.

I used acrylic paint to fill in the designs I had created with the pencil and chalk.

If you are uncomfortable with free-hand drawings, you can always use a stencil or trace around cutouts to create your own design.

Allow the acrylic paints to dry overnight.

To finish off the custom painting of the trays, I applied a top coat of PolyAcrylic Finish in Gloss from MinWax.

Once that is dry and if needed, apply a second coat.

A serving tray needs handles so I found some that I liked at Hobby Lobby and Home Depot for each style of serving tray.

The rustic flag tray got oil rubbed bronze handles from Home Deport.

To attach the handles, just measured to the center of each side of the tray, and then measure from the center mark to the drill holes needed for the handle screws.

The Fall themed tray got faux wood branch handles from Hobby Lobby.

The style and hardware for your own version of this tray can be fun to create all your own.