A beautiful tray is one of those wonderfully simple pieces that can completely change a space. It adds colour, gathers together the things you use every day and can move around the house whenever you fancy a change.
Hi, I am Katherine, and I am the founder of Zazoo Trays. I have trays all around my home. Here are my five top uses for trays!
1. On the coffee table
A decorative tray is an easy way to make a coffee table feel considered without making it overly styled. Use one to bring together a favourite candle, flowers, a small vase or the book you're currently reading.
It’s also a lovely opportunity to introduce colour and pattern into a living room, particularly if the rest of the space is fairly neutral.
2. On a bedside table
Trays aren't just for serving. A smaller tray beside the bed gives everyday things – jewellery, glasses, hand cream or a little vase of flowers – somewhere to live.
It keeps a bedside table feeling organised while adding a little colour to one of the most personal corners of the house.
3. In the kitchen
The kitchen is perhaps where a tray earns its keep the most.
Use one beside the kettle for your morning coffee essentials, to gather bottles and condiments together, or simply to create a colourful little moment on a worktop.
And, of course, when friends arrive, it can go straight from kitchen to sitting room laden with drinks.
4. On a console or sideboard
If you have a hallway console, sideboard or otherwise slightly empty surface, a tray can help anchor a collection of objects.
Try layering one with a lamp, flowers, candles or favourite pieces you've collected over the years. Rather than everything sitting separately, the tray helps bring the arrangement together – and introduces pattern without needing to redecorate the room.
5. Wherever you're entertaining
Perhaps our favourite use: put the tray to work.
Drinks in the garden, afternoon tea, Sunday lunch or cocktails before dinner – a tray makes carrying everything considerably easier while becoming part of the table itself.
Choose a colourful design and you don't need to do much else. Add glasses, a jug, flowers or a bowl of lemons and you have an instant centrepiece.
A tray that moves with you
The best things in our homes don't need to stay in one place. A tray might begin the week on a coffee table, move to the kitchen for breakfast and end up carrying drinks into the garden at the weekend.
That's part of what we love about them: beautiful enough to display, practical enough to use every day.
Explore the Zazoo collection to find a colour and pattern for your home or follow us on Instagram for more ideas on interiors, entertaining and everyday living.