DIY – Decorative Geometric Wood Tray

Disclaimer: This post is an #ad Gorilla Glue . However, all views, experiences and ideas are 100% my own and are not influenced in any way! This post contains affiliate links

You know how much I love working with wood to create something unique! As you know our kitchen renovation is in full swing so I decided to make a rustic geometric wood tray to match our beautiful kitchen (when it is finally finished).

You will need:-

• Gorilla Wood Glue
• Pallet wood
• Plywood (for the base)
• Mitre Box
• Saw
• Planed Timber (size of your choice)
• Dark Stain or Dark Wax
• Clear Wax
• Paint of your choice
• Painter’s Tape
• Nail gun (optional)
• Measuring Tape

I must apologise now for lack of precise instructions and measurements in this post, but as with most of my projects I improvise quite a lot! Once I run out of wood, I simply did a bit of guessing and didn’t quite stick to exact measurements!

I started by roughly deciding on the pattern and the size of the tray. Emphasis on roughly – the beauty of this project is, you can measure and cut pieces as you wish as you are creating the pattern – no plan! I started from the middle and worked my way out.

I used 9mm plywood for the base (that I had left over from a previous project). I cut a slightly larger size of plywood than I needed, as I didn’t use exact measurements for each piece of wood (I rarely follow instructions, step by step guides or recipes and simply give it a go!). I then marked the plywood and divided it in 4 equal parts. This meant that each piece of wood would need to be cut 4 times for each square (easy to remember).

Remember that whatever you do in one square you will have to repeat in the other three. Even if you don’t have a pattern in mind it is easy to create one on the go with these three shapes.

Start from the centre and align your first pieces – I went with 20cm pieces of wood and used first cut as my template to mark the other 3 pieces. This meant that all 4 pieces were exactly the same. Use either a mitre saw and if you don’t have one you can use mitre box and hacksaw.

Once I had cut the first few pieces, I applied a generous amount of Gorilla Wood Glue on the wood piece and put it in place in the centre. Grip together for 20-30minutes. Remove excess glue with a clean, wet cloth or scrape off once the glue dries. Allow bond to dry for 24 hours.

This step is totally optional – staple your central pieces in place to make sure they don’t move around and are totally square, then continue to work your way around and glue on each piece until you are happy with your pattern. The glue is repositionable, so if you are not 100% sure, you can move the pieces around until you are completely satisfied.

Once all pieces were firmly in place, I measured and cut around the board using a jigsaw.

Don’t make the frame around it just yet. It is much easier to work with flat piece to stain and paint the surface now. I chose colours to match our kitchen – Farrow & Ball Railings for the dark, Brilliant White, Dark Wax and Varnish in Dark Oak. Using a delicate painters masking tape, I painted the areas and waxed the last pieces for a nice rustic look.

To create the frame around the tray, I used some pallet wood. I used my mitre saw to cut the pieces of wood at 45 degree angles. I then glued everything together and secured it all in place using the brad nail gun.

To finish the tray off I simply used some wood filler (for a few gaps – I am not a joiner and plus it is pallet wood so it is never perfectly straight!). Then to finish it all off, I added some dark wax to create a nice rustic look

Please allow 20–30 minutes for room temperature applications. Then leave the glue to cure for 24 hours to reach total bonding strength.

The simpler version of this tray that does not involve cutting, would be gluing strips of wood together on the ply and then using a tape to create angles with dark stain/paint and wax without cutting the pieces.