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How To Repurpose An Old Drawer

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Repurpose an old drawer into a serving tray. This serving tray is the coolest. It has sisal rope handles and shabby blue paint for a beachy look. I love a good wood drawer repurpose project.

Don’t Throw Out The Drawers With The Dresser Petticoat Junktion DIY Wood Tray

Sometimes I just find bits and pieces of old furniture. That’s okay because I can always find a use for the odds and ends other people toss.

repurposed drawer 2

Take this drawer for instance. It’s nice and sturdy. In fact it’s darn heavy. It would be a shame to break it up for firewood or worse send it to the landfill. The drawer was a thrifty find from my favorite thrift/junk store. I was using it to hold those small bottles of acrylic paint but it has a better purpose than that. Those bottles can sit in a box.

 repurpose an old drawer

Now the old drawer is a handy serving tray. How do you like the way I left the wood grain peeking through the paint?

oops paint Glidden

The beautiful paint color has no name. The gallon of paint was on the oops shelf at Home Depot. I always check out the oops shelf at the hardware stores. I used this same paint for the Little Tikes Playhouse Extreme Makeover. The color reminds me of the beach.

remove drawer pull

I removed the wood handle from the drawer. It didn’t fit the beachy vibe.

painting the drawer a beautiful beachy blue

I painted the drawer inside and out.

distressing paint 2

When the paint was dry I distressed the drawer by hand…just a bit. I didn’t actually cover the drawer completely with paint. I wajted the little scrapes and dings shine and also some of the wood grain.

drilling holes for sisal rope handles

Next I drilled two large holes on each end of the drawer for the sisal rope handles.

sisal rope handles Petticoat Junktion wood tray project

I knotted and added the rope and…tadah! The whole project took about an hour. Allowing for drying time.

wood tray with sisal rope handles Petticoat Junktion diy project

This is a project from earlier this year. The drawer was already painted and perfectly chippy. I just cleaned it up and added the sisal rope handles. You can see it here..Chippy Wood Magazine Tray with Sisal Rope Handles. You can see that these old drawers come in handy for all kinds of things. You could use them to hold your craft supplies, the kids coloring supplies, pots of flowers….

I bet you would love the weathered wood finish project I did. You can see it below….

How To Get The Weathered Wood Look

Hold Onto Your Drawers Petticoat Junktion Wood Drawer Serving Tray

 Wood Drawer Serving Tray

You can find the sisal rope on Amazon by clicking here .. Sisal Rope  (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Thanks for being here and have a great day, Kathy

Kathy Owen founder of Petticoat Junktion

Author: Kathy Owen
Kathy Owen is the founder of the home decor blog Petticoat Junktion where she shares tutorials on painting furniture and upcycling thrifty finds into unique home décor. Her DIY projects have been featured on the Home Depot Blog, Plaid Crafts, Behr Designer Series, and in numerous magazines.

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27 Comments

  1. Cheryl Atkinson says:

    Hi Kathy! i have this exact drawer!! Thank you for the inspiration because i was about to send it to Goodwill.

  2. Pamela Smith says:

    Perfect! The color is the best! (my favorite)

  3. Rebecca Payne says:

    So cute. I love the color.

  4. I made a couple of projects yesterday and will have the videos up sometime today on my chalk Facebook page. I love this stuff!!

  5. I love reading your posts early in the mornig while having coffee on the deck. You inspire me. Thanks

  6. Love the sisal rope pulls…I’ve also been wanting to try Chalk Couture ..excited to watch and learn from you…

  7. I love this! Thanks so much for sharing this great idea! You have fabulous instructions with photos – This is beautiful!

  8. What a fantastic idea and so very pretty too!

  9. You must have been reading my mind! I planned on grabbing some drawers out of my hoard to make serving trays much like you did! I love the color and it turned out great!

    xo Dianne

  10. I would have NEVER thought to hold on to an old drawer! Brilliant! thanks so much for sharing at Merry Monday!

  11. Julie Briggs says:

    What a clever upcycle! I love the rope handles you added. Thank you for sharing at #HomeMattersParty

  12. julie nichols says:

    I am a sucker for anything blue and I love this repurpose of old drawers! Great idea using the sisal rope for handles. Thank you for linking to Talk of the Town. You are our featured blogger for next weeks party, plus we are featuring this project!!
    Julie @ Love My Simple Home

  13. Laura Strack says:

    I always love your Thrift Store Décor makeovers. They are always thrifty, practical and oh so pretty!! I have to make this one 🙂 Thank you for sharing your wonderful creations!!

  14. Stacey Keeling says:

    This is such a great idea! One of these days when I run across a drawer, I’m going to do this. 🙂

  15. JaneEllen says:

    When we made 6 drawer dresser into tv stand I retrieved 2 drawers we took out on top. Been trying to decide what to make out of them, think a nice tray with one drawer and nice storage box for other drawer, love idea of using rope for handles on each end. Hubs was going to pitch them, no way. Will get out there tomorrow to sand them, get to work. Haven’t done project in long time.
    How is your hubs doing Kathy, no problems after his heart surgery awhile back? Hope he’s doing well.
    Always love your posts. Take care.

  16. Debrashoppeno5 says:

    What an excellent recycle. Old drawers can be so useful. I also like the sisal handles.

  17. Maryann @ Domestically Speaking says:

    Love it! Definitely need to make one for my coffee table!

  18. Adorable! Love the color!

  19. Marie, The Interior Frugalista says:

    Excellent way to repurpose an old drawer, Kathy! Love the color and the sisal rope handles?

  20. Dawn Cain says:

    Very cute idea and makes everything look neat and tidy place in a box.

  21. One of my favorite drawers uses was adding legs and making it into a footstool!

  22. Christy@Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer says:

    Such a great use for an old drawer, Kathy, and it will be so functional too. Love it!

  23. kristin salazar says:

    This is super cute! Love the color you used and the rope is perfect!

  24. I love your repurposed drawer Kathy! I recently tidied up the garage and stacked all of my drawers together… I lost count of how many I have.

    The color is perfect!

    pinned!
    gail

  25. What a great gift idea! ⭐️

  26. Sometimes I need to be knocked on the head before my light-bulb goes on, so thanks for the knock. I need some bathroom bins pronto before guests arrive in two weeks, and I’ve got drawers!!! Clock is ticking, I’ve gotta start painting now so I get them done.