My brother asked me if I could make a tray for his living room ottoman. I said that I probably could, but what do you use it for?

He explained that it can be used as a tray to serve drinks or food, and when not in use, it sits on top of the ottoman to hold magazines or decorative items.

Here is the finished tray:

He provided me with the dimensions, and said to keep it simple. He wanted it to look rustic (I’m good at rustic), so I suggested that it be made from pallet wood. He did not want it stained or with handles.

Fortunately, I had a couple of salvaged pallets, so with hammer and crowbar, I began the disassembly process.

I like working with pallets for the recycling aspect, but often you are only able to get just a few pieces of usable lumber from each pallet. The disassembly takes its toll; so plan accordingly for your pallet projects.

Once I had enough usable lumber, I cut the needed pieces to size, and did some preliminary sanding with my electric sander.

Next, as seen below, I used my biscuit joiner to cut two slots into the edges of each bottom piece, so that a wooden biscuit could be inserted. This can clearly be seen in the first picture. The second picture shows all of the bottom pieces ready to be glued and clamped.

With the bottom all glued up, I added the sides, using biscuits and glue as well.

Once the glue set, I performed a final sanding on the box, using different grits of sandpaper. Pallet wood can be a bit rough and I did not want him to damage the ottoman upholstery.

Once fully sanded, my work was done.

A simple gift for my favorite brother!