From Serving Tray to Nightstands

Our guest house bedroom needed nightstands, but the room is fairly small. We didn’t want to have anything taking up floor space.

After brainstorming for a bit, I had an idea: Cut a serving tray in half and mount the halves to the wall.

Larry was game to give it a try, so we ordered a wooden tray on Amazon. When it arrived, we proceeded to ‘destroy’ it!

Now here’s where I have to admit that somehow I lost all of the photos taken during the process. Luckily, it’s pretty straight-forward; just remember to measure twice and cut once!

Larry measured the tray to find center, then using his hole saw he cut a hole. He used his table saw to cut the tray in half, forming 2 shelves. The hole then became a semi-circle for the light cord to go through when the shelves were mounted on the wall.

We purchased shelf brackets on Amazon (similar to those used for the lights Shelf Bracket Lighting), this time in white. Because the included screws would have poked through the top of the thin tray/shelf, we purchased shorter screws at the hardware store.

Finally, we hung the shelves on the wall on either side of the bed under the lights. Always be sure to find a wall stud, or use a wall anchor, when hanging heavy/much-used items. We put the remote controls for the lights, flashlights, and cute little bird coasters on the shelves, and we were done!

Cute, functional, and no legs to stub toes on – win win win!