Hello all! Hope your weekend was great! I was sick all weekend -- at first I was frustrated I couldn't get anything done but then I embraced it and just enjoyed laying around and watching movies for 72 hours straight. Now I'm on the mend and trying to catch up from my lazy days. :)
I'll be hard at work on some outdoor projects this week but I wanted to share a quick spray paint project I did a few weeks ago. If you've seen my kitchen you know I added a tray to our island since I expanded it more than a year ago -- I love having a spot to corral all the stuff that we reach for every day.
I've been using a tray I found at Goodwill but I had been on the search for something a little larger for months. I found this one at HomeGoods:
I liked the big industrial/farmhouse metal rings as handles and loved the color of the wood, but unfortunately it was all wrong on the butcher block island.
Spray paint to the rescue! I wanted more of a contrast so I sprayed it black and LOVED it. You saw it last week when I shared more about our peonies:
This has become our "command center" in the kitchen and we use the items in the tray numerous times a day. They're all little things that feel too small and cluttery on their own and gathering up on the tray looks so much better.
My favorite part of the tray is the new recipe box I found a few weeks ago at a local shop:
Of course afterwards I looked online and found the exact same one on Amazon for less. There's a floral one I may have to get for the spring/summer. I don't usually do that but I LOVE that one too and have an Amazon gift card burning a hole in my pocket. ;)
Anyway, the polka dot version had me immediately and I love having my recipes so easily accessible. I've started filling in the cards but need to get more:
That's my yummy crock pot chicken and wild rice soup -- SO GOOD. These recipe cards from this line are so pretty too! They have so many cute designs. I'll probably end up just copying more on the printer but they are adorable.
The set comes with about 12 dividers too. It's seriously too cute and looks great sitting out on the tray:
I also keep a dollar store vase in the tray with straws and my favorite butter dish from Target:
Of course my pitcher (also from Target) I've had for years holds my flowers every week. This napkin holder was from Target (I think?) as well (do you sense a trend here?). The napkins were from IKEA, but watch out because they turn your face blue!:
Ha! They sure are pretty though.
We use at least one of the items on this try every day, if not all. I love having it right out in the open so everything is easy to access:
I'm trying to keep the clutter down in our kitchen so having all of these little items in the tray eliminates some of that. At least it feels like it does. ;)
Do you use a tray in the kitchen for similar items? It would work for the kitchen table too! You can see how I used the tray to make a cute and functional hot chocolate station at Christmas too:
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