advent calendar 2021

Gift of the Day: A Shimmery Odds-and-Ends Tray

Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photo: Retailer

Welcome to Curbed’s Advent-calendar gift guide. For each of the 25 weekdays before Christmas, we will be doling out, one by one, the gifts recommended by dozens of design bigwigs with extremely good taste. So keep checking in daily for new drops.

“Everyone can always use an extra tray to corral important objects,” says Andi Morse, founder of Morse Design in Atlanta. “I’m often on the lookout for trays for my clients and tend to pick them up for myself along the way.” She particularly likes the unique shape and shimmery look of this one from West Elm, which “has a very high-end feel for the price,” she says. “It looks good on anything and everything — leather, wood, grass cloth, even an upholstered table.” Morse keeps one in her living room: “It makes my infinite number of remotes easier to find,” she says.

On a coffee table, Morse would accessorize this tray with “two or three smaller coffee-table books stacked with some beads on top,” while on a bar, “it would be great stacked with a variety of different liquor bottles.” As a centerpiece for a kitchen island, she’d use it for “a bouquet of flowers and a small bowl filled with grapes.”

Gift of the Day: A Shimmery Odds-and-Ends Tray