Easy Tiered Tray Styling For Fall

I think I’ve mentioned a few times how much I love decorating for fall. Well, I also love making tiered tray arrangements and my 3-tiered tray is my favourite to work with. In this post, Easy Tiered Tray Styling For Fall, I’ll share with you where to find the supplies for this fall tiered tray and how to easily design a tiered tray of your very own. I’ll also go over a few basic styling principles that will help you style a tray for any season or occasion.

*This post contains affiliate links.

The Tray

Start with any tiered tray you have. I purchased mine from Home Depot, and while it’s no longer available in their store, I see that Birch Lane is selling it now. The tray is made of wood in a light rustic finish with aged metal trim. Tiered trays come in wood, ceramic, pottery, metal and glass. I recommend choosing a solid-coloured tray so that the tray itself isn’t competing with the beautiful things you will be displaying.

Other trays that would look beautiful styled for fall:

Less Is More

In this short video, you can see that I used a limited number of items and only a few colours. In addition to the wood tone of the tray, I used only four colours- cream, black, yellow, and orange. Four colours is a good number to use and I recommend that two or three of those colours be neutrals like white, cream, beige, grey, brown, or black.

Start with a variety of small to medium-sized items in your chosen colourway. Add the larger items on the bottom tier with perhaps one larger item on the middle tier. Add the smaller items to the upper two tiers. Place floral stems between the items to soften the look and bring continuity to the overall look.

What Types Of Items To Use

I like to choose only four or five types of items to use in my easy tiered tray styling for fall. If you use too many different types of items (or too many different colours) the overall look won’t be pleasing or cohesive. Here are some ideas for a tray that will be displayed in the kitchen:

• Small wood signs
• Faux or real pumpkins
• Faux or real fall fruits or vegetables
• Dried or faux florals or stems (grasses, leaves, berries)
• Jars filled with fall items or dried food (barley, popcorn, oats)
• Mini vases with flowers
• Tea towels
• A small recipe book
• A book stack
• Pretty dinner napkins
• A stack of decorative bowls
• Mugs
• Tea canisters
• Vintage kitchen tools
• A candle (don’t burn it near flammable items)

Choose A Theme

A theme isn’t a requirement but it actually makes the process easier and the finished product more cohesive. My theme was sunflowers and pumpkins. I used about six pumpkins in black, cream, and yellow and four sunflowers, making sure to have some of each on every level of the tray. I further emphasized the sunflower theme by placing a basket of real sunflowers next to the tray. Note that sunflowers and pumpkins make up more than half of the items on my tray. The rest of the items help to add interest.

Repeat Elements From The Tray Throughout The Room

Styling any space, whether it’s a tray or an entire room, is all about repetition and contrast. You want to repeat enough elements so that the look is cohesive, while also including enough elements to keep the look interesting and not entirely predictable. So, go ahead and add some elements or colours from your styled tray to the rest of the room. I added a few yellow accents (blanket, sunflower plant, yellow floral arrangement, tea towel) and it really ties the tiered tray to the overall decor of our kitchen.

Sources

White pumpkins- Michaels

Black and yellow fabric pumpkins- Homesense

Sunflowers and orange berries- Michaels

Welcome Fall sign- KT Inspired Home

Orange sign (top tier)- Michaels, no longer available

Black tea towel- CB2

Mug (lower tier)- Pretty Collected

Bonus Tray Styling

I wanted to end my Easy Tiered Tray Styling For Fall post with a bonus styling option. For this tray, I simply added a whole bunch of small fabric pumpkins (available in my Etsy shop here) in a deep orange/rust colour. The look is a bit darker and richer. I have a fabric pumpkin tutorial if you are interested in making these cute fabric pumpkins.