TRES CHIC TRAYS! COCOCOZY

Cococozy’s wood and mother of pearl R&Y Augousti tray…given to me as a gift years ago. (above)

Was first introduced to R&Y Augousti by good friend RK about three years ago when she gave me the above tray as a gift.

I can’t remember why RK got me a gift …maybe a birthday, maybe the holidays, maybe a thank you of some sort. RK presented the gift to me one day over lunch (or was it dinner, or drinks…can’t remember). All I remember thinking when being presented with the gift was “o000000h, lah dee dah, goody, yippeee, it comes from Barneys“…and then the surface conformist in me thought in simpleton flawed logic “so it must be good”. Hmmmm….says a bit about me…right?

Anyhoooo….when I finally stopped my superficial materialistic appreciation of just the Barneys bag alone, I took the gift out of the bag. And there it was…a tray. Huh. A tray. Well. Huh. A tray. I nodded. “Interesting” I thought. “So nice of RK but what am I to do with this?” I immediately put the tray right back in the Barneys bag, admired the bag again and gave RK a big thanks and hug. “Now what else do I have to do today…”…and I went on my merry way.

About a day later, I was shuffling around my oh so tiny house when I realized that my Barneys gift was still in the bag. “I guess I should figure out what I am going to do with that tray thing” and my brow furrowed in a confused and puzzled way. I reached inside the coveted bag and pulled the tray out again. Suddenly (just note the rest is part truth and part drama) the lights in the room dimmed, the bag disappeared, a spotlight crashed on and my eyes focused on this really intricately beautiful tray. I was mesmerized. An epiphany. The tray was actually more beautiful than the place it had come from…could that be? In front of me was a lovely wood and mother pearl tray…it was elegant, fanciful and sophisticated all at the same time (much like the gift giver RK).

The tray now sits where it has for three years…prominently displayed in my bedroom on a dresser. Every time I look at this tray…I think of how nice and generous RK was for getting me this gift, how pretty and delightful the tray is, and wonder how many more of these trays I should buy.

Along the way, I did learn that the tray was by R&Y Augousti…and from then on I kept my eyes peeled for anything made by this Paris based company that makes furniture and decorative objects out of exotic materials.

R&Y Augousti glossy black shell tray with bronze handles in Persimmon on Flores Street in Los Angeles – $215 (above)

Fast forward to a year or so after the receiving my tray gift and I walk into my friend Julie Schroeder’s lovely store, Persimmon, only to find a wide array of gorgeous jewelry, small decorative pieces for the home which included some mesmerizing boxes and trays! Turns out Julie was carrying many stunning R&Y Augousti items in her store (and still is)….including an amazing selection of my coveted trays.

This is what Julie Schroeder, owner of Persimmon in Los Angeles had say about her love of things R&Y Augousti:

Cococozy: When was the first time you saw anything R&Y Augousti?
Julie, owner of Persimmon: First encountered the line during a trip to Paris before I opened the store. Came home with a fantastic orange snakeskin purse, which I still use.
Cococozy: Why do carry R&Y Augousti in your store?
Julie: I love the organic and unusual materials such as shagreen (which is used on practically every item from purses to furniture to trays), shell, parchment, palmwood, agates and metals. Each piece is handcrafted along with most of the other items in the store.
Cococozy: What is the R&Y Augousti item you covet most and why?
Julie: I am coveting anything Black Shell.

So ALL of that said…in my humble Cococozy opinion, the R&Y Augousti trays, whether in black shell, shagreen, mother of pearl or any other material can add great accents to any room – living room on an ottoman, dining room set on a side board or buffet, or in the bedroom or bathroom on a vanity. Here are a few more R&Y Augousti trays to consider…

Persimmon – R&Y Augousti Small Black Shell Tray with Palmwood Handles – $178 (above)