Elegant Bathtub Tray in 15 Minutes

This project has been on my to-do list forever! On a cold day, there is nothing I love more than having a nice hot bath and relaxing with a book and tea (or wine). Until now, I have had the battle of trying to balance my book and drink on the edge of the tub with the hopes of not submerging my book or knocking my glass off, which would be a quick way to ruin the essence of the bath. Pair the tray with your book, wine, and a candle and you set yourself up for a perfect evening!

Below is the quick and easy directions on how to create your own tray which took me less than 15 minutes and using scraps of wood we had laying around.  If you have no scrap wood, all you need is one 1″ x 4″ piece of wood and two paint sticks (you can get them for free at any home building store or paint store).

First, measure your tub, if your tub is oval like mine you will need to measure exactly about where you will want the tray to sit on the outside of the tub (to know the length needed for the tray) and measure the inside of the tub (to put braces so the tray doesn’t slip side-to-side).

Cut your board the length you measured for the outside of the tub. Then cut two pieces 2 inches wide. With the extra wood pieces, cut 2 inches wide pieces to be used as bumpers that will sit inside of the tub so the tray does not slide.

Mark on your board for the measurements for the inside of the tub, and just inside of those markings place those 2-inc bumpers on each side of the tray. 

Drill pilot holes and screw two screws in each bumper on each side to hold the tray together. Repeat on the other side.

Cut the paint sticks in half, and place them evenly on the bottom of the tray and staple them in to hold the tray together and provide extra support. In the end, the bottom of your tray should look something like this:

Optional: I burned “Relax” into the bottom corner of the tray.

Paint the tray with a water-resistant lacquer to protect the wood.

And viola! There you have your 15 minute bath tray!