Keys, wallet, watch, the handful of small things that collect by the door. A catch all tray gives them one place to land. Ours is a single oval of cherry hardwood with a shallow recessed pocket, made to sit by the entry, on a dresser, or on a desk and quietly hold whatever the day leaves in your pockets.
The Tray
One solid piece of cherry hardwood, shaped into a soft oval with a routed pocket and finished with natural tung oil. Cherry is the wood woodworkers reach for when a piece should be beautiful without trying, fine and even in grain, with a warmth red oak does not have. It keeps changing after it leaves the shop, deepening in color with light and time until it is richer than where it started. The wood is what you see.
By the Door
Sized to hold keys, a wallet, a watch, loose change, a pair of glasses. Room enough to corral the small things, low enough to stay out of the way. It does one job and does it well, and it looks like something you chose rather than something you ended up with.
One piece of cherry, finished by hand. The wood will deepen with use.
