DIY Lazy Susan

I made the Lazy Susan pictured on the cover of this post ages ago. It has become the literal centerpiece of all of our family meals, crayon and play-doh time, serious discussions, and not-so-serious cookie making. It has witnessed fights, uncontrollable laughter, countless deep (and sometime stupid) conversations, kisses, hugs, tears, and so much delicious food, shared with more love than is possible to measure. Our kitchen table is the center of our home, the word painted here a constant reminder for us to be thankful for our multiple blessings, for each other, and for every single, beautiful, gifted day.

Lazy Susans like this sell on Etsy for upwards of $100, but I’m going to show you how to make one yourself for less than $30. It’s surprisingly easy, and you can customize it any way you want- size, color, design, etc. It is such a lovely piece to adorn your kitchen table. It also makes a beautiful gift. I made one as a wedding present once, the design the couple’s monogram and wedding date. It was a huge hit!

What you’ll need:

A wooden round piece, like this one, found on Amazon *Note: I have made this in multiple sizes, 12″ and 18″ being the most popular. This tutorial shows a 12″ piece.

A Lazy Susan turntable mechanism, like this one, found on Amazon

Cabinet pulls (2), like these, found on Amazon

Paint for Lazy Susan board

Paint for design

Spray paint for cabinet pulls (optional)

Wood stain

Wood sealer

Fine grit sandpaper

1″ felt pads

1/2″ screws for lazy susan mechanism (4) (the Amazon pack didn’t come with any)

You’ll also need…

Paintbrush for painting wooden round (2″ – 3″ brush will be fine)

Artist’s brush for painting design

Old rag for wood stain

Printer

Scotch tape

Ballpoint pen

Handheld drill (or screwdriver, if you have the patience)

What to do:

Start by painting your wooden round your desired color. Don’t worry about sanding the rough bits right now, that will come later.

While the paint is drying, you can spray paint your hardware if you choose to do so. I don’t care for the flat black look of these pulls, but I adore the shape (and the price- $2 for these guys!), so I give them a quick spray with my favorite metallic spray paint. No big.

*Tip: I’ve found that when spray painting screws, it can be very annoying to have to roll them around to get even coverage. Sticking them straight up in a box or piece of styrofoam totally solves this problem. This old foil box did the trick perfectly!

When the paint on your wooden round has dried, lightly sand the edges, and wherever you’d like a more worn/antiqued look.

Rub a small amount of wood stain onto the top of your dried paint, working quickly and vigorously so as to not let it sit too long. You can be as liberal or as conservative as you want with the stain, the look is totally up to you

This is the fun part! At this point, I like to distress the wood a bit. You can do this by beating the crap out of it any way you choose. I gave this one a few good whacks with a screwdriver. Very therapeutic.

Next you’re going to design your Lazy Susan! For this, you can be as detailed or as simple as you’d like. Simply type the word(s) you’d like to use, paired with any clip art you fancy into Word, and print! This may take a few tries to get the sizing just right. You can see my entire word didn’t quite fit, so I had to break it up into two pages. No problem! That’s why we have tape!

Cut out your design and scotch tape it to your board in the way you’d like to it look

Next, grab your ballpoint pen and trace the outline of your design. You’re aiming to leave an imprint in the wood below the paper, so push hard. A small warning that your hand may cramp a bit. I usually have to take a few breaks in this process.

Next, grab your Artist’s brush and second paint color. Fill in the traced lines on your board. This may take a few coats, but it’s fun, easy work you can do while watching Friends, like I did…

When paint is completely dry, I like to go over the whole piece with a light sanding, just to give it another layer of “antique-ness”. Yep, we’re going with that word. For my design, I wanted to go with a more rustic look, but you are obviously welcome to do a cleaner, more modern design as well.

Next, seal! I love this sealer so much. I use it for everything (as you can see from the stains on the can). Just a little spray of this stuff and your work of art is safe!