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10 Minute Decorating Idea: DIY Marble Tray

It is evident that I move things around our home on almost a daily basis.  Not necessarily for organizational purposes; but for aesthetics.  Often times, moving a planter or decorative accessory from one room to another can breathe new life to a space.  Instant decor gratification right?

My dear friend, Laura from Finding Home, believes that decorating your home should be fun and simple and that it is the little things that impact a space and your mood.  With that, she started a really great series on her blog titled, "10 Minute Decorating".  The idea is to find or do something really quick and easy that makes an instant difference to your space.  It can be anything, but shouldn't take more than ten minutes of your day.


Laura invited a few bloggers to join in on her challenge and today I am sharing how I was able to add a little pizazz to my desk in under ten minutes. 

I wish I could say I was the mastermind behind the new trend of marbling objects with nail polish, it is simply GENIUS!  I am hoping that because I did this to my workspace, some of that smart thinking will rub off on me... fingers crossed.

My new farmhouse desk is a blank slate at the moment as I am in the process of finally staining it and giving it a little extra treatment.  To ensure my office doesn't become too rustic {which is a great style, just not my personal style}, I want to add additional colors and finishes to the space.  What better way than with a decorative tray to corral some of my favorite daily office supplies?

I started with a plain white porcelain tray {found at Target} and a slew of nail polish colors that are similar to the colors I am using in my studio space.


The process to marble with polish is quite quick and simple.  Start by filling a paint tray or bin with enough water to submerge your item.  We used water that was around room temp, and it is important to use a bin that you don't love.  The nail polish will end up sticking to the edges/insides {but can be cleaned up with polish remover}.

Like I said, this project is quick.  You really have no choice but to move fast!  Nail polish dries and changes consistency almost instantly, giving you very little working time.  I recommend shaking and opening all of your polish colors before getting started.  I asked my husband to help with this project so that I could take photos, but it really could be done solo.  Although I will say, it was nice to have his help to be sure we could move quickly enough.

Simply adding a few drops of polish to the water will cause the polish to go straight to the bottom.  It was much more effective to splatter the polish around. 


Once all of the colors were in the water, I used a bamboo skewer to carefully mix the colors a bit better prior to dipping the tray.

Then, we just dipped the tray and pulled it right out.  The nail polish instantly clung to the tray and came out of the water in a marble like pattern.


And that is it!  Take it out, it dries quickly and it is done!  Ten minutes or less and you can marble anything you wish!

Because our tray was beveled, we sort of scooped it through the polish {vs just setting it face down onto the polish and pulling it back out}.  The first attempt we ran out of polish before hitting the final edge, you can see the line in the photo above where it stopped.  I also wasn't super thrilled with all of the pink and lack of other colors.  However, the sweetest part of this project is that those mistakes were no problem!  I just used nail polish remover to remove the first attempt and tried again.  The second time, we dipped one half first and let it dry....


And then re-dipped the opposite side and let it dry again.


There will be some imperfections, but that is the beauty of it.  I recommend starting out with something small and working up from there.  And it is surprising how little polish is needed, the water spreads it so a little really does go a long way.


I didn't do anything more to cure it as it seems quite durable, but you could put a protective finish over it if you wanted to.


I really can't stop oohing and ahhing.  It was just what my work happy space needed and I adore how it plays off of the beautiful wood!


If you love these types of quick projects that take very little time yet leave you smiling, then be sure to follow along with the 10 Minute Decorating series over at Finding Home; including additional tips from myself, Michael of Inspired by Charm, KariAnne of Thistlewood Farms and Jessica of Four Generations One Roof. 


And we also want for YOU to join in with us!  Just share your projects with us via instagram using the hashtag #10minutedecorating and we will all be checking in to see what you creative kids are up to!

How do you decorate in ten minutes or less?  Have you tried out the marbling technique yet and if so, what received the special treatment?