Megan CurtinSo you’ve bought a new house and now it’s your turn to host the holidays! Congrats and sucks to suck. While entertaining is fun it can be a little hectic once the whole family and your crazy uncle joe comes around. You know uncle joe, the one that always hits on your friends and passes out after dinner on the recliner.
A major part of hosting is the food and drink you provide for your guests. It is one of the first things that welcomes them and the last thing they will leave thinking about. Every good host should take time and really put thought into how you serve your food and drink. This can start with the appetizers.
Don’t make them get up and serve themselves via a buffet line. Allow guest the ease of sitting and gathering in your living room. Bring the food to them like a good host would do. This is where serving trays comes in to help you .
Serving trays are both a fashion piece for your living room and a necessity in serving your guests. Using a serving tray will make your host game fire! Additionally, serving trays can be a statement piece that serves as a table top you to place your keys, remotes,candles or books on.
Serving trays are a practical piece to have around even when you’re not hosting. They are sturdy pieces you can use year round to keep your food and drink in an easy to reach area. If you live in a small space and don’t have room for end tables, serving trays on top of ottomans are the way to go!
[su_divider divider_color=”#f4cae3″]Contents
Consider these things before purchasing a serving tray!
Size:Â The size of your ottoman or table should be considered before you purchase any serving tray. You don’t want to purchase a serving tray that is going to be to big and fall off. At the same time, you don’t want to get a serving tray that is to small that you can barley fit anything onto it.
Pattern: Serving trays come in an unlimited amount of patterns. Make sure to look at pictures closely before you buy one to ensure it will match the vision you have in your mind.
Material:Â Serving trays can be made out of just about anything including wood, plastic, ceramic, metal, bamboo, glass and fiber glass. Pick a material that is going to match your homes theme or one that will be a nice accent piece.
Use: Depending on what you plan to be serving, you want to think about what each try is made out of and what limitations it may or may not have. If you plan on serving liquids or things that are extremely hot, you will need to keep that in mind so you don’t damage your serving tray. Your options will be broader if you plan to just use the serving tray for things such as utensils and napkins.
Handles:Â Typically serving trays are going to come with some sort of handle for you to carry it with. Handles can be built into the sides or extend up. Personal preference ultimately decides whatever handles you end up with.
Sides or not sides: pretty simple on this one. Do you want a flat serving tray with handles or one with sides and handles already built in.
Legs:Â Some serving trays can come with foldable or extendable legs. Others will just have flat bottoms for you to lay on your ottoman. Your ottoman material is going to be important to keep in mind when thinking about a tray with legs. If your ottoman is a hard service you can choose one with legs, but if it’s cushion based I suggest getting a flat one. Common sense here folks.
Quantity:Â This is an odd one. I never really thought about serving trays coming in more than one, but turns out they do. Â Serving tray sets typically come anywhere from 1-5 pieces. Some pieces will be the same type/design but come in different sizes that fit into each other and others will be the same size that can stack on top of each other.
[su_divider divider_color=”#f4cae3″]Rustic Serving TrayÂ
These trays are great for anyone with a rustic feel to their home. Trays come in a set of two and one is just a bit smaller to fit inside the middle of the other one.
Handles on this tray are located on each side and are made from metal that sit on top of the tray sides extending upwards. No extendable legs are found on this serving tray.
Works well for country, rustic, farmhouse or a costal themed house. These trays are ones that can be used as a statement piece. Leave it out year round on your ottoman or table to add character to the room.
I was able to put cups with liquid on these and the condensation didn’t ruin the finnish or the tray table top itself.
Great thing about this serving tray is it adds texture to your living room through its weathered wood design.
Dimension:Â 11.6 x 15.7 x 2.4 inches
[su_divider divider_color=”#f4cae3″]Black Flat Bottom Serving TrayÂ
This large ottoman tray is square and comes with wide handles on the sides. Great for those with normal to large size hands. I don’t know why but trays sometimes have super tiny handles, like what adult did you use for hand mold. No normal adult is going to be able to fit there adult hand in that little suzy tray. Clearly I’ve had problems with this before.
Flat bottom serving tray is water resistant making it ideal to carry hot or cold food. Woods service is finished so you won’t get a splinter in your finger. Nothing ruins a good party like a splinter.
If you get a hard to scrub stain on this do not try to use a bleach cleaner or wire cleaner on it. Anyone who has owned wood at any time would know this is how wood gets destroyed. Three letter DUH. Â Bleach and wire will scratch the paint and leave many marks on it.
Technically you can flip this serving tray upside down and use the bottom for your guests to place things on. While I have tired this and it does work, it’s not very practical. Get coasters for your tables instead.
Visually this serving tray is a clean and sleek design.
[su_divider divider_color=”#f4cae3″]Gold Metal and Mirror Tray
This gold metal serving tray is truly a piece of art. Serving tray includes a mirror glass bottom and gold decretive sides. The sides are not solid all the way around, but has gaps in-between. With so many open gaps you can carry the tray from multiple angles.
While it is a mirror glass bottom, it is still sturdy enough to put things on. I use this one as a tray in my bathroom and put glass perfume bottles on it and have yet to have anything crack or break.
This mirror serving tray works well with modern, french and coastal themed homes.
[su_divider divider_color=”#f4cae3″]
Serving Tray With LegsÂ
One of the most recognized types of serving trays. Any breakfast in bed scene is going to have this serving tray in it! It’s not the most attractive one we are going to go over, but I couldn’t not put this in!
Don’t let the picture fool you, this is made out of bamboo not wood. It has retractable legs and two handles for you to carry it with. A small lip goes around the entire tray giving you extra security.
I like that the legs on this tray fold up, so it works better for storage. No locking mechanism is on this tray but the leg design allows this tray top to stay in place.
Dimensions:Â 20″ L x 12″ W x 2.5″ H when folded, 9″ H when standing
[su_divider divider_color=”#f4cae3″]White Serving Tray – No HandlesÂ
First thing you will notice with this serving tray is it has no handles allowing for an overall sleek design. The center of this tray goes down a little allowing a place for your things to sit.
This brand comes in the classic serving style, and is available in a compartment style serving tray. You can choose form a 3 compartment or 4 compartment.
With this link you can purchase these serving trays in a set of three. When you’re done using them simple throw them on the top rack of your dishwasher!
Con to this serving tray: it’s made out of plastic. This makes it lightweight but isn’t ideal for hot things such as dips or meats.
Dimensions:Â 15 x 10 x 1.4 inches
In case your curious about where these are manufactured, they are made in the USA!
[su_divider divider_color=”#f4cae3″]
Megan Curtin
