For Just $15, This DIYer Turned a Plain Wood Tray into a Work-From-Home Essential

It’s a hallmark of a good DIYer to be able to turn something truly boring and ordinary into something that feels fresh. But a great DIYer? Well, they can do all that, and stick to a tiny budget.

That’s why for season three of Megan’s Mystery Makeover, we challenged a crop of DIYers to all transform the exact same piece: a plain wood tray. We chose this item because we figured it had a lot of potential—it’s solid wood, making it easy to paint or stain, and the large, flat surface made it a versatile canvas for our DIYers to put their own spin on.

Along with the tray, we sent each DIYer some specific instructions. In this round of the mystery makeovers, they’d need to redo the tray using a budget of only $15. To make that budget go the extra mile, they were allowed to pull from their own supplies. However, to really put the budget pressure on, we told them they had to limit those picks to just two items they already owned.

Up first for the challenge? A.V. of A.V. Does What, who’s all about easy DIYs with color and pattern to spare. A.V. took a peek at the tray and saw something else: a work-from-home lap desk that she’ll be able to get plenty of use of through the rest of the year and beyond.

Check out the video above to see how A.V. pulled it off—and watch this space for two more tray makeovers in the coming weeks.