School of Decorating

Decorate with Confidence and Create a Home You Love

  • Free Class
  • Videos
  • Blog
    • How to Decorate
    • Simple DIY Projects
    • Life Tips
    • Success Stories
    • Our Home Tour
  • Classes
  • About
  • Contact

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, on purchases made after following an affiliate link. See my full disclosure here.

February 13, 2014 By Jackie

Editor’s Note: I love a pretty office.  Something about working in plain boring cubicles for 10 years made me appreciate the importance of a beautiful workspace.  Annie, from Organized with Annie, is back today to share a genius idea for pretty office storage.  You won’t believe how charming her office paper trays are!  Plus, I love how easily you can customize the look of these to your style by changing the color and handle.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I am addicted to all kinds of faux drawers (remember the mudroom faux drawers?)…they are awesome!

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

It all started when I was working on my home office and was dissatisfied with the plastic and metal choices for paper storage. I decided to make my own “paper trays”.  To give them the WOW factor I was after, I added a handle to the front.  And, that’s how it all began.

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

I use three faux drawer paper trays on my repurposed hutch in my office to hold bills, folders, and magazines/catalogues. How did I decide on three? It was what my space allowed for and the system has worked great for me. When I get the mail, the bills go in the bill drawer, magazines/catalogues that I actually want to look at go in their drawer. The rest of the mail gets filed, recycled, or shredded immediately. When my magazine/catalogue drawer starts to get a little full, I go through it and purge. The faux drawer limits how many magazines/catalogues I can keep at a given time.

Recently, when I was organizing a clients home office I noticed she had a 1/2 used ream of paper in plain site. It wasn’t in a bad place or unorganized but I really wanted it to live in a faux drawer. I showed her my idea and she like it, so this Antibes Green drawer is going to live in her office for printer paper storage.

Supply list for 1 faux drawer:

  • 3/4″ birch plywood (see cut list, I used a scrap from another project)
  • 1×6″ – 6 feet long (see cut list)
  • 4 – #8 x 1 3/4 wood screws
  • finishing nails
  • glue
  • handle of choice (any cabinet pull or knob will work)
  • paint of choice

Cut list:

  • 1 bottom – 3/4″ birch plywood cut to 12 x 11 1/4
  • 2 sides – 1×6″ cut to 11 1/4″
  • 2 fronts/backs – 1×6″ cut to 13 1/2″

Tools:

  • drill/driver
  • sander
  • finish nailer/hammer
  • paint brush

How to Build a Faux Drawer Paper Tray

Preparation

1. Make a template for consistent screw placement. I made one 11 1/4″ by 3/4″ and made my hole 2 1/2″ from each edge.

2. Get wood and follow cut list.

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

3. Predrill holes on both the bottoms of the sides and the sides of the bottoms using template to mark holes.

Assemble the Drawers

4. First, secure the sides to the bottom using wood glue, followed by wood screws. Repeat the process on the other side.

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

5. Put on fronts/backs. Put a small bead of wood glue around the edges of the sides and the bottom. Using a finish nailer (I use a Ryobi Airstrike) to drive a nail every few inches. You could easily do this step with a hammer and finishing nails, as well. Repeat the same process for back.

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

Finishing

6. Use a sander (I used my Ryobi Corner Cat) to sand the boxes smooth and soften the corners.

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

7. Attach the handle.  Mark the placement of the screw holes.  Drill the holes with a 3/8″ drill bit.  Secure the handle with provided screws. (I bought this pull at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore along with a couple dozen more…only $4 for the whole lot).

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

8. Paint the faux drawer. For this particular one, I decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, in Antibes Green, which made the project even easier.  Using chalk paint eliminates the need to prime the wood. For this project, I had some special help from my four year old. We gave this two coats of chalk paint, including the handle, and a coat of Annie Sloan clear wax. I roughed it up a little with sandpaper to give it a distressed look and applied another coat of clear wax to protect those areas.

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

I know it’s just a paper box, but doesn’t it look so nice? In addition to being super functional in any home office, it looks so cute!

How to Make a Faux Drawer Paper Tray | Organized with Annie for tealandlime.com

If you’d like help in your home office solving your organizational challenges, I’d love to help! If you live in the Twin Cities Eastern Metro, I’d love to help YOU! Connect with me at organizedwithannie.com.

Previous Post
Before & After: Bonnie’s Casual Lakeside Dining Room
Next Post
Wayfair This Room: Posh Pink Eclectic Entryway

Comments

  1. Amy says

    February 14, 2014 at 11:38 pm

    I love this project! Really cute way to store paper. Thanks for sharing!

Hi, I'm Jackie. I believe you are the best person to decorate your home and I'm here to help.

I teach online decorating classes to help you create your dream home. Click on the images below to learn more about each class.

Take an Online Decorating Class

Best for beginners!

12 Class Bundle!

Get a free copy of my book
Free Decorating


Start reading now...

Follow Me Here

Categories

  • How to Decorate
  • Simple DIY Projects
  • Life Tips
  • Success Stories
  • Our Home Tour
I believe you are the best person to decorate your home. You just need a dash of courage and a dose of decorating know-how. That's why I created School of Decorating.

I know how frustrating it is to feel like failure at home. I also know how amazing it feels when decorating finally makes sense and your home reflects you. I want to share what I've learned so you can create a home you love without years of trial and error.

Get a free copy of my best-selling book Free Decorating

  • How to Decorate
  • Simple DIY Projects
  • Life Tips
  • Success Stories
  • Our Home Tour

© 2018 School of Decorating
 · Terms of Use 
· Privacy Policy
 · Disclaimer




This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.