Woven trays are designed to be useful, but their role in the home can extend well beyond carrying and serving. They can corral everyday items, hold fresh produce, group drinks and barware or provide a foundation for a styled vignette.

And when they’re not being used to hold or gather objects, their woven texture makes them a decorative element in their own right, whether displayed on open shelving or even hung on the wall.

Below, we explore some of our favourite ways to style and use woven trays throughout the home.

From Kitchen to Table

Designed first and foremost for carrying and serving, a woven tray makes it easy to bring food, drinks and tableware from the kitchen to the table. Use one to bring condiments and serving pieces to the table, or to carry drinks and snacks outside when entertaining.

Once everything has been served, the tray can stay on the table as part of the setting or be easily returned to the kitchen.

Containing the Everyday

A tray is an easy way to corral the smaller items that tend to gather around the home. In an entryway, use one for keys, sunglasses and other essentials you reach for on the way out. On a kitchen bench, it can keep oils, salt and frequently used ingredients together, while on a coffee table it can hold remotes, books and other everyday items.

Keeping these pieces together helps a surface feel more organised while still keeping everything close at hand.

For Fresh Produce

Woven trays are a practical way to keep fresh produce on a kitchen bench, island or dining table. Their broad, open form keeps fruit and vegetables easy to see and reach, while the natural fibres sit beautifully alongside the colours and shapes of fresh produce.

A larger tray can hold an assortment of fruit and vegetables, while a smaller one works well for lemons, limes, garlic or other produce you use regularly.

Create a Cocktail Bar

A woven tray can turn a section of a sideboard, console or kitchen bench into a simple cocktail bar. Group bottles with glassware, a cocktail shaker and other bar essentials to keep everything together and ready to use.

The natural texture of the tray also provides a beautiful contrast to glass bottles, glassware and metal bar accessories.

Create a Styled Vignette

On a console, sideboard or coffee table, a tray can provide the foundation for a styled vignette. Bring together books, vessels, candles and foraged or collected pieces, varying their heights, shapes and materials to create interest.

Using a tray helps connect individual pieces into a single arrangement, with the added benefit of making the entire grouping easy to move when the surface is needed for something else.

Beyond the Tabletop

A woven tray doesn’t always need to hold something. Its shape, natural fibres and woven texture can make it a decorative element in its own right.

Try standing one upright at the back of open kitchen shelving, layered behind ceramics, glassware or other everyday pieces. It’s an easy way to introduce natural texture and a larger-scale form amongst smaller objects on the shelves.

Woven trays can also be hung on the wall, either individually or grouped with other woven pieces. Circular and oval forms work particularly well, bringing shape, texture and the warmth of natural fibres to an otherwise empty wall.