My wife has always wanted a wooden tray like this in our home. I’ve decided to take the opportunity to design one from scratch and build it myself. It’s about 12” by 18” and has a handle on either side for easy mobility.

The total project cost is around $10 and took me around 2 hours to do, excluding drying time.

Here is the video of the design process in Sketch Up:
DIY Wood Tray Design Time Lapse in Sketch Up - CAD Time Lapse

Here is the video of the actual project build itself:
DIY Wood Tray - How to Build Your Own Wood Tray | DIY Dude

Step 1: Materials

These are the materials I used:

- (2) 1”x4”x8ft Pine Board
- (2) Style Selections 3-1/4-in. Center to Center Black Bar Cabinet Pull
- Joining Biscuits
- Wood Glue
- White Paint

Step 2: Tools

These are the tools I used:
- Table Saw
- Planer
- Biscuit Joiner
- Bar Clamps
- Power Drill / Screwdriver

Step 3: Cut Wood

I used the following different cuts of wood for this project:

(4) Bottom boards

(2) Front/Back boards

(2) Side boards

I cut the bottom boards to the internal dimensions of the box. This was approximately 18" long, and since there were 4 boards I cut them to a width of 3" each to reach a 12" tray width in total.

The side boards I cut to 18" long by 3.25" wide. The front and back boards were cut to 12" long plus the thickness of the two side boards. This was to overlap the front and back on top of the sides to achieve a cleaner look.

Step 4: Plane, Prep, and Assembly

I started out by planing all the bottom pieces to the desired thickness. I waited to do the sides until I knew what thicknesses they needed to be to line everything up correctly.

After planing, I cut the slots for jointing biscuits and assembled with wood glue and biscuits. Using bar clamps I held the boards in place to form the bottom of the wood tray.

Once dried, I glued the sides on.

While those were drying I drilled the holes for the handles in the front and back boards. The handles were then screwed on before being finally assembled to the rest of the tray.

Step 5: Finish

I actually haven't decided how I am going to finish this tray. I'm debating between a sealer, stain, white paint, or a combination of any of the above. I hope you enjoyed this process, and if you're interested in the design work or the assembly video, please see them below:

DIY Wood Tray Design Time Lapse in Sketch Up - CAD Time Lapse

Here is the video of the actual project build itself:

DIY Wood Tray - How to Build Your Own Wood Tray | DIY Dude