Decorating with Trays

Something that I love to decorate with and use whenever possible is a fun tray.  It's an easy way to add interest and layers to a flat surface without taking away precious display room.  Trays are usually inexpensive and you can switch them out depending on the season or your mood.  Gathering objects, pretty much no matter what they are, will automatically create a "collection" and cause your eye to think they belong together.  It keeps things from looking cluttered and that is important especially in our small home!  Here are some examples in our house:

This is our coffee tray.  It usually has a mug or two ready for the morning.  This allows us to keep our coffee stuff out but it still looks tidy and meant to be.

This is next to our stove and holds our salt & pepper, balsamic vinegar & olive oil and the pepper grinder.  Things we use almost every meal cooking and would rather not pull out of a cabinet every time we need it.  

This is in our living room and is a beautiful antique silver tray given as a wedding gift with a matching tea service.  I usually just get the tea service out during the holidays but couldn't bear not to display the tray year round.  It adds some interest and contrasts nicely with the primitive wooden farm table it sits on.    I've tried to incorporate silver and mirrored items consistently throughout our home.  They reflect light and look great paired with more contemporary furniture.

This is in our bathroom.  If all of these items were on the shelf alone it would look cluttered and sloppy.  Have them gathered on the tray unifies everything and keeps the shelf looking tidy.  This is a small space that needed some interest.  The tray brings in the silver and mirror that is repeated throughout our home, adds some texture and pattern and still looks uniform and tidy.  

If you have a problem surface in your house that you haven't been able to figure out, a tray might be the perfect solution for unifying those little objects that won't work on their own!