When I was a little girl I used to stay up into the wee hours of the morning redecorating my room. Weird, I know…I promise I had friends. I would rearrange trinkets on my bookshelf, move the furniture around in circles to change the orientation of the room and steal books from other parts of the house to stack for under lamps and picture frames. Since then my interest and love of interior design has only grown. Style, especially in your home, is a wonderful reflection of your personality and a perfect way to express your point of view. Interests and tastes can vary quite dramatically but it is always thought provoking for me to see a take on something I may have approached a different way, it is not only inspiring but pushes me to appreciate and open up to new aesthetics. So with that, I thought I would start to humbly share my very inexperienced but rooted in passion and love take on interior design in blog posts from time to time. I don’t expect my taste to match yours, but maybe there is an approach, idea or project you can incorporate into your home with your own twist.

Let’s talk about trays. Apparently I’m addicted. In our very small apartment there is at least one tray in every room and one more in the closet waiting to be used on our bedroom dresser once it gets painted. Trays are a beautiful and easy way to add a bit of dimension and organization to an otherwise open surface. Instead of spreading picture frames over your coffee table put them on a tray and you 1) create an intentional look or space 2) make it easy to move the items on the tray for cleaning or multipurpose pieces of furniture (FYI, husbands love this, although not clear they like trays to begin with) and 3) add a beautiful piece to the overall look. Below are a few examples of how I have used them throughout our house. Happy decorating!

This bar station is my version of a bar cart, complete with a chalkboard top to feature specialty drinks on fun occassions.

Instead of floral arrangements at our wedding we used mercury votives to give dinner a romantic glow. I have some on our table to remind us of that perfect day, I just pop in new tea lights and I’m ready for our next dinner party.

This tray is on the coffee table in our kitchen seating area. I use it to hold my herbs and farmers market haul but move it to the counter when setting out appetizers for guests.

Our coffee table tray in the living room is moved several times a week for dinners or laundry folding in front of the television

The bathroom window sill tray has all the essentials…candle, flowers, and hand towels