Serving Tray – Old Window Upcycle for the Living Room!

How to create a serving tray out of an old window! With the living room remodel under way one thing I knew we would ABSOLUTELY NEED was a tray for the newly upholstered coffee table to set drinks on etc. Fortunately I still have a stash of old windows in the garage that I pulled out of the house during the renovation. I was concerned they would all be too big but when I brought the smallest one in and checked it out it actually seemed about perfect.

First thing was deciding what I wanted on the back of it! Glass is so fun to work with, I hit up Amazon for a wall decal because they’re so cheap and there are like a MILLION options out there.

Fortunately I remembered I couldn’t get anything with words because they would be backwards when I flipped the tray over. Yes I absolutely could have put the decals on the top of the tray but I felt they wouldn’t last nearly as long and they would have interfered with easily cleaning it.

This is the decal I decided on.

I also purchased two cans of “mirror” spray paint. I’ve used it before so I understood the results I would be getting would be more of a chrome and not a perfect reflection like an actual mirror.

Which was great in my opinion!

After cleaning the window REALLY WELL we carefully applied the wall decals and then spray painted over them, totally covering the decals and the entire back of the window.

I was absolutely floored with how pretty it turned out. From here I MAY decide to paint the sides and fronts but, so far, I kind of like the shabbiness of the raw wood.

Then it was time to really turn it into a tray and to add some shiny!

These are the pulls I found on Amazon. For this frugal chick they were a serious splurge at nearly $9 a piece! But because I was only purchasing two I decided it was worth it because I just straight up loved them.

Set anywhere on the couch the tray creates literally an end table. I was afraid it was a bit big for the situation but it actually works really well. Because of its size and weight it doesn’t move at all and creates a solid place to put drinks.

MAJOR PERK: It makes an excellent place for food! We’ve had many picnics in the living room because of this great tray now. All in I am really happy with how it turned out and it was so simple to make!

(NOTE: Yeah there’s more than one window that we were doing this treatment to in the photos. I promise I’ll tell you about the other two windows soon!)

(SECOND NOTE: Yep, if you saw any of my previous projects for this living room (upholstering my coffee table, quilt wall hanging with shelves, adding a skirt to my sofa table, picking out an area rug or making a shelf out of an old ladder) than you’ll notice that the ENTIRE layout in my living room has changed. I’ll explain how it all happened soon and why this is SO much better!)