9. Modern Color-Block Geometric Tray
What This Idea Means
Color-blocking relies on clean lines and bold color intersections to form a striking contemporary design. This tray works exceptionally well on coffee tables in modern apartments or offices.
Supplies Needed
- Low-profile wooden tray
- Low-tack painter’s tape
- Acrylic paints (3–4 complementary colors like mustard, blush, teal, slate gray)
- Flat synthetic paintbrushes
- Satin polyurethane finish
How to Make It
- Sand and prime the wooden tray with a white base primer.
- Map out diagonal, horizontal, or intersecting triangular shapes across the tray bed using painter’s tape.
- Paint each section with a different color from your selected palette.
- Remove the tape carefully after applying two thin coats to each section.
- Re-tape dry sections if you need to create overlapping geometric shapes.
- Protect the geometric art with two thin coats of satin clear finish.
Tips and Variations
- Tip: Burnish the edge of the painter’s tape with your thumbnail before painting to get razor-sharp lines.
- Variation: Leave one geometric section as raw bare wood showing natural grain for contrast.