My Current Obsession: Trays and Styling

Back when little man was still a baby, the forward-thinking mom in me took a look at our wooden coffee table with sharp corners and declared to the Mr. that we should replace it with something soft.  Seeing how babies who are learning to walk love to pull themselves up against furniture to walk around them, you can never be too cautious (especially with us being first time parents)!  For practical reasons, we decided to get an upholstered ottoman with ample storage inside for little man's toys (and our issues of unread magazines).  

Problem was, we needed a hard surface on which to place our TV snacks/ drinks.  That was what prompted us to make our first tray purchase, and the start of an obsession...

This was the large tray we got from Pottery Barn for our coffee table / ottoman in the family room.  We love keeping copies of the Restoration Hardware catalogue on the tray (we're always in awe and inspired by how they style the rooms).  Just in time to switch to the most recent copies we got in the mail!  

Ever since getting that first tray, we loved using trays to keep a large surface clutter free.  The tray is like a clutter boundary - keep your clutter in it, and makes the rest of the surface much neater...  or at least I try to keep it that way!

The tray in our office keeps our stationeries easily accessible, while keeping our workspace bright with that wooden lamp.  

Creating a tray vignette is a great way to add a little personality to a room.  Here in our home office, it makes working less dull with something pretty on the desk.

In addition to personalizing a space, trays also make cleaning much easier.  We have a long counter in our bathroom, and I found cleaning the counter much easier than my pre-tray days.  I just need to haul away the whole tray and give the counter an easy wipe-down.   No more moving individual canisters while I clean up.  

A sparkly mirror tray in the dressing room helps gather up bottles... 

... and free up some space for another mirror tray for some knick knacks - my ring holder, clock and oil diffuser.

Our tray obsession continued on our last trip and we brought home this faux shagreen tray from Z Gallerie.  We loved its color, and the stylish gold handles make it a perfect piece for entertaining.  It now sits nice and proud on our dining room console table.

I'm not sure why we've only been getting four-sided trays.  But we're now eyeing these beauties!

Sources:  1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Maybe one day, I'll ask the Mr. to attempt this DIY project also!  I love me a marble tray!

via Almost Makes Perfect

Now go on to get organized and beautify your space with trays!

Painted French Blue Console Table

As the Mr. was finishing up the dining room wainscoting and chair rail project, I started looking for the perfect size console table.  How did we determine what's the perfect size for our dining room?  

Our dining room is a shared large room with the living room, measuring 24-ft. in length.  We wanted THE piece to be at the short wall of the lengthy room, so that we can put a large mirror above it to reflect the light from the large patio doors. The dining table is 8-ft. in length.  We also wanted to ensure there would be enough room to walk behind a chair at each end of the table, let's say around 2.5-ft. or so including the back of the chair.  

Space between chair and console table.

Doing the math, that left us 24' (length of the room) - unextended dining table 8' - walk space 2.5-ft. x2 = 9-ft. to allot to the living room and a dining room console.  We don't usually leave the dining table extended, so we're fine with having the extended table eating a bit into the living room when need be.  However, I would want the living room to be at least 8-ft in length to fit in a decent sized settee.  That means, we need to find a piece that's only around 1-ft in depth.

All the math confirmed our suspicion - a chunky sideboard is out of the question, as most are at 20" or more in depth.  We loved this console table from Restoration Hardware - the zinc and cast iron would be a nice contrast to our rustic wooden dining table.  However, it comes in 20" deep, argh!  According to my math above, the ideal console table could only be around 12" deep.  The extra 8" would make or break a "just right" look.  

It proved to be a huge challenge to find such a shallow console, not to mention a style that we wanted.  Most consoles usually come in closer to 20" deep.  When we saw the style we liked, it was too deep.  When we saw the right depth, it was just...  BLEH...  You get the idea!

I usually don't look for antique/ used furniture, but I always loved checking out Châtelet Home's current inventory.  As I was casually browsing through their online photo inventory gallery, low and behold, I found the perfect piece!  I was so excited I called them right away to put a hold on the item! 

With it being a used item though, it doesn't come PERFECT.  I should've kept a before photo of the piece, it was in pastel granny's apple green with peachy pink highlights...  can it be more 80s than that?  Despite its Miami Vice colors, I couldn't pass on the gorgeous details, perfect size, and marble top!  It came at a lower price as is or a bit more than double the price for a finished piece.  Of course, I would go for the lower price option!  You know we (the Mr.) don't mind to put in some elbow grease to add our personal touch to it!

We chose a French blue that the Mr. painted over the entire piece.  I then finished it off by dry brushing some Martha Stewart champagne gold acrylic paint around the details.  The final step was to add a coat of Min Wax on it.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, as the little man would put it.  Saved us some bucks by doing it ourselves...  and to our liking!

We loved how the console table turned out.  Looking pass its original colors, it has great lines and is the perfect size for our dining room.  

Incorporating our personal touches was a nice way to inject some colors into our neutral-colored dining room.  The Mr. also pointed out how he liked the details on the console table reflecting the baluster design on the dining table.  

Now we have the perfect spot for everyday decor accessories and party essentials.

I hope we have inspired you to look at used furniture in a new light, especially when you're stuck at finding the PERFECT pieces for your home.  I was never a vintage person, until I realized what magic some TLC can do.  

Good luck on your search for the perfect piece for your home!

Our Recent Trip to Chicago - Home Decor Edition

We were on a much needed R&R trip (read Rest and Retail therapy ha!) to Chicago last week.  Of course, we just couldn't help but also checked out some decor and home accessories along the way.  Here are some snippets of our trip, home decor edition.

With the Mr. being a beer lover, where else would be a better place to go on our first night in town than Hofbrauhaus!   It's a German micro brewery/ beer hall - the place to be for a guys' night out!  Aside from the beers and sausages, I was impressed with the hall's great ambiance, high ceilings, casual air mixed with traditional architecture and large windows.  I wasn't even bothered when the guys around us were paddled in their butts as they ordered rounds of shots (a tradition, as we were told by our server).  Our friends pointed out this remarkable wall of locked beer mugs.  All of them have beautifully crafted distinctive details.

We always love wandering into Z Galleries - we can easily get lost in the store for hours if we didn't have little man with us.  The furniture pieces, home accessories, and artwork are all curated to our liking!

I always love single seat cushion sofas, like this one below.  No one would need to sit on the crack between seat cushions.  Also loving the curved legs and detailing on the sides of the chrome coffee table.  We're on a hunt for a bar cart as well, and this one is a mix of classic contemporary.

Love this dining table vignette, and that thick giant silver mirror tray.  It looked stunning in person, and the thickness of the rims screamed elegance.

The Mr. said, the office would rock this trunk style architect desk.  It has a darkened mirror top is an intelligent touch, such that it doesn't compete with its chrome sides.  This is such a cool piece!

Speaking of the home office, a group of these deer and moose antlers in gold and silver would definitely make a statement for our nook area.

This bench was placed with the dining table at the store, but I think it's just the perfect piece for our foot-of-the-bed bench.

During our raid at Neiman Marcus, we also stopped on the home accessories floor.  I finally got to see in person this jaw-droppingly gorgeous Cheval bar cart by Jonathan Adler.  Loving the regality of the sculpted horse head finials at the corners and the lucite detail on the handle bar.

And this crystal decanter set with simple lines would go nicely on any barcart!

For my love of all things agate and geodes!  That huge gold-rimmed geode platter glams up any dinner parties!

This collection of crystal vases and giant obelisk (at least 2.5' high!) will for sure create a statement on a console table.

Knowing that we're foodies, our friends brought us to Eataly.  The interiors were nice and bright, desserts were delicious, walls of cheeses and cured meats were impressive, and the espressos...  to die for!

The eatery on the second floor of Eataly has industrial style standing height tables.  The marble tops of the tables elevate their utilitarian look.  A lower version of it may work as our powder room vanity, with a bowl sink on the marble counter.  Those slots under the marble top can be storage for hand towels or bathroom tissues.  Funny, the inspirations I got even at eateries!

It sure was nice to reminisce about our Chicago trip...  the fun little boat cruise on the Chicago river, the food and drinks, the shopping, and of course having great hosts during our trip!  The trip sure did serve its R&R purpose!  Now back to the grind....  and daydream about our next vacation!