This Butler Tray turned out better than I could have imagined.  It was one of those projects where I called upon my go to design girls Gwen & Grace about whether or not the stripes would be too much or so much it was good.  My gut said good, but they reaffirmed my thought.  Always good to have a backup support system!

It all started with this Butler Tray from AveHome.  They have a gorgeous line of furniture that is finished and ready to go, but they also have an entire line called AveRaw.  Each piece is constructed to a high standard of quality & design, but as the name suggests, they arrive as raw, unfinished wood. And for those of us that enjoy the occasional DIY, or if you are looking for a piece but the color or stain just isn’t right, you can customize your own piece!
Now here is where it got tricky… and mostly because I had the flu & was dizzy in the first place.  Doing math with a fever is not my strong suit!  So I literally just started taping off freehanded with my 1/2″ blue painters tape.  And wouldn’t you know, that it all lined up perfectly.  I would obviously suggest measuring first!  But sometimes the DIY stars align.

Once I taped it off I did realize that I should have painted the white first (again, blaming the fever) so here is the correct order to duplicate this look:

Prime the wood with a good primer such as Zinsser.
Paint the entire tray white once the primer is dry.
Allow the base coat to dry completely! And apply a second coat if needed.
Again, let dry completely!!
Tape off the stripes and use a small craft paintbrush to dry brush the tape lines… This means getting just a small amount of your white paint on your brush & brushing it over all of the places where the tape meets the wood.  This will create a sealed barrier for your tape ensuring that the black paint will not leak through &you will receive a crisp straight line every time.
Paint your black stripes and apply a second coat if needed.
Seal your project.
I would normally use an oil based paint on a project like this, but as there was white paint involved, I wanted to avoid the inevitable yellowing over time.  So I choose to use simple acrylic craft paint and I sealed it with this Martha Stewart High Gloss Finish.
And since this bar will be seeing a lot of action, I have also suggested my clients have a piece of glass cut to set into the tray for an added level of protection.
xo – Kristin