Catchall tray: which format for the hallway, desk and bedside table

A catchall tray is chosen first by where it sits: a wide, low tray in the hallway for keys, an oblong tray on the desk alongside the keyboard, a round dish on the bedside table. The Gyroid set brings together these three formats for €25, made to order in our Guérande workshop.

A catchall tray is not storage

That confusion leads to buying the wrong object. Storage is for putting things out of sight. A catchall tray does the opposite: it gathers in one place what you'll pick up again in a few hours. Keys, the badge, loose change, glasses, the evening watch, the USB stick. Objects that have no assigned place because they never stay put.

From this follows the only rule that matters: the catchall tray must be exactly where your hand releases the object. Thirty centimetres too far along the console, and the keys still end up beside it. In a drawer, and you can't find them. That's why a good catchall tray is first a question of format and placement, not capacity.

Three questions before choosing a format

How high a rim? A low rim is enough for flat objects placed by hand, a keyring, a phone, glasses. As soon as it's loose change, cufflinks or rings, you need a proper rim: what rolls always ends up falling.

How much surface do you really have? A hallway console is often less than 30 cm deep, and a bedside table must still accommodate a lamp and a book. The oblong format fits where the square overhangs, the round dish where the oblong no longer holds.

What does it receive? A hallway catchall receives few objects but bulky ones. A bedside catchall receives small fragile objects you want to find again without scratching them. These are not the same bases or the same depths.

In the hallway: wide, low, and within reach

In the hallway, it's the square tray from the Gyroid set (€25 for all three pieces) that does the job. Its surface is the widest of the three: a full keyring, the building badge and the phone fit side by side without overlapping. Its stepped rim, a succession of rings printed in slight offset, forms a border high enough that a coin won't go overboard, and low enough to grab the keys without looking.

The base is not solid. It's a gyroid mesh, an openwork surface with open cells, printed in a second colour. Two concrete effects: a key placed on it doesn't slide when you put the bag down beside it, and the texture catches raking light in a corridor instead of reflecting a flat surface.

Why an openwork base holds better than a smooth base

The gyroid is a periodic minimal surface, a geometry that folds back on itself without ever crossing. No mould can produce it: you would need to remove the mould through the material. 3D printing builds it layer by layer, which makes it accessible on an object at €25.

On a catchall tray, this mesh plays the role of a discreet anti-slip. A smooth, slightly domed base, as many ceramic dishes have, lets small objects gather in the centre then slide over each other. An open mesh holds them where you place them. We detail what the form brings to the solidity of a printed piece in is a 3D-printed object really solid and durable.

On the desk: the oblong, alongside the keyboard

On a desk, the right place for a catchall tray is the narrow strip between the keyboard and the edge of the table, or just to the right of the mouse. The oblong tray from the Gyroid set fits there without eating into the work area. It receives what has no category: the charging cable, the USB stick, a ticket, paperclips, the wedding ring when you type.

The pen pot takes the rest. The Tandis (€18), 15 × 15 × 9 cm and 18 cm with its handle, is divided into four compartments by two crossed partitions, and its handle allows you to carry it from the desk to the kitchen table. We detailed the complete equipment for a work surface in desk storage: 5 design accessories for back to school.

On the bedside table: the round dish, or the jewellery display stand

The round dish from the Gyroid set is the smallest of the three, and that's what makes it right for a bedside table: it takes the space of a cup. Watch, wedding ring, earplugs, it's enough if you put down few things.

If you remove your jewellery in the evening, the Jewellery Display Stand (€10) is more suitable. It measures 23 × 12 cm, as an oblong tray with a proper rim, and its base is a wavy relief in hollows and bumps rather than a flat surface. Rings settle in the hollows instead of rolling towards the edge, chains rest in the grooves without tangling. The rim and base are printed in two different colours, which allows a clear contrast under bedside lighting, a light base under gold jewellery for example. On a dressing table, it complements the compartmented organisers we review in bathroom and makeup storage: 3D-printed organisers.

In the living room: the catchall tray that receives what you discard

On a coffee table, the catchall tray changes function: it receives less what you keep than what you discard. The Snacco (€17, Ø 15 cm) is a ribbed bowl divided into two compartments, with a central well hollowed in the middle. Pistachios on one side, cherry tomatoes on the other, shells and stones in the centre: the table stays neat without circulating a second dish.

The Pistachio (€8) applies the same principle in a heart format, with an upper tray for nuts and a reservoir below for shells. It's the gift version of the idea, for a table of two. For other pieces to give to someone moving in, see housewarming gift idea: the decor piece that stays.

When the console is already full, the wall takes over

In a narrow hallway, the console is often already occupied by a lamp and the post. The Pianis (€34) then moves the keys onto the wall: 25 × 22 × 2 cm, a row of vertical hooks above a ribbed strip, printed in two colours. The keyrings are hung and visible, the tray remains free for the rest.

The two complement each other rather than exclude each other: keys on the wall, everything that sits flat in the tray just below.

Matching colours without thinking

These pieces share the same twenty or so colours, mostly matt, with a few marbled finishes and a wood finish. The Gyroid, the Jewellery Display Stand and the Pianis being two-tone, the rim and base are chosen separately, and this choice doesn't change the price.

Two simple approaches. Tone on tone with the furniture: beige or wood on an oak console, matt black on a lacquered unit. Or the single accent: everything in a neutral, and the tray base in a bold colour, which only appears when the tray is empty. The logic is the same as that described for vases in custom colour 3D vase: compose your own.

What these pieces withstand

A catchall tray receives keys several times a day, it's a contact object. Our pieces are printed in biosourced PLA, a bioplastic derived from corn starch, with the colour in the material and not on the surface: a rubbed corner doesn't turn white. They clean with a damp cloth, and the Gyroid mesh dusts with a soft brush.

The only limit is heat. PLA begins to soften around 55 to 60 °C, which rules out the edge of a radiator or full sun behind a bay window in summer. On a hallway console or a bedside table, the question doesn't arise. Recycled PETG, more tolerant to heat, will join our ranges in the coming months; the comparison of the two materials is in PLA or PETG, which material for which decor object.

Printed after your order

None of these pieces is in stock. Your order arrives in our Guérande workshop, the spools of the chosen colours are mounted on an available machine, the piece is printed, then it is deburred and checked before packing. Allow 5 to 7 days before dispatch.

That's what allows you to order a matt black rim with a terracotta base without depending on what a warehouse has planned in that combination. The entire range can be browsed on the home accessories page, the workshop operation is recounted in an hour in the RE3DLINE workshop, and the conditions by quantity for equipping a hotel, an office or a shop are on our trade page.