One of my brother's Christmas gifts this year was a
boot tray, a handy little thing that serves as a catch-all for sloppy, snowy, wet boots. Before this winter, I would have never thought I needed such an item, but thanks to the massive amount of snow/ice we've had these past few months, I've realized it was an imperative addition for my apartment entryway.
 |
| My Inspiration |
While my brother's tray is nice, it's a bit of an eyesore - since my entryway is part of the same space as my living room (and kitchen), I wanted it to add to the
décor of the room. I found this idea on Apartment Therapy and fell in love. The original poster used a LADIS lid from IKEA as her tray base, but unfortunately, IKEA no longer sells that type of container. I searched high and low during my last visit, only to be met with disappointment. *sigh* So, onto Plan B.
 |
Once I confirmed that it
wasn't super-valuable, I
colored over it's original
gold eyes with a brown
Sharpie, turning them a nice
(and more updated) bronze. |
I searched and searched for a suitable black plastic lid at various stores but kept striking out. I also perused trays, but those were often too expensive (the LADIS lid was $3.00) or too cute to be used to hold dirty boots (like this one, from IKEA). My mom also pointed out how small my available space was - opening my front door leaves an area of about 11" between door and wall. I had my work cut out for me. Enter Ohio Thrift, a locally-based thrift store chain that I recently discovered while visiting friends. Needing a little bit of a pick-me-up after dropping my mom off at the airport the other week, I found myself browsing the aisles, sizing up items and scavenging shelves. I had a good feeling, since during my last visit I scored this little fellow (right) for $1.99! In the midst of my wandering, I found a few contenders for my boot tray, but they were all discarded when I found a deeper black wooden tray for $2.99. I sized it up in the store but hung onto the receipt, just in case I needed to return it for another option later. Luckily, I didn't need to! I brought it home, cleaned it up, and filled it with four bags of black river rocks from Dollar Tree. End result? Awesome functionality.
 |
My mini entryway - the door passes
right over the tray without catching.
Also, please note the mini snow shovel,
bag of kitty litter, and ice scraper. |
 |
| My Version! |
 |
| Yes, these shoes are props. ;) |