If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I’ve undertaken an office-makeover project at work.  I’ve posted a couple of updates so far, but today got lots of questions about one of the items in my post: an Hermès tray!

Vintage Hermes Tray, 1stdibs.com (Photo: 1stdibs)

The one pictured above is a vintage tray that sells for $875.  If you’ve read my blog once or twice, you know that I’m not one to pay retail, but that instead, I’m one to seek luxe for less.  Well, that’s exactly what I did…again!

I’d known for some time that I wanted one, so I searched Pinterest for possible places to purchase one that wasn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg.  Pinterest is a great place to seek inspiration.  If you’re not a big ‘pinner’ feel free to peruse my boards from time to time!  Anyway, after searching Pinterest a few times, I did find some replicas or ‘inspired’ trays that were reasonably priced; but as I am decorating this office on a budget, I really wanted to pay less than $50 for mine. Here are a couple of ones I found, both which are priced $125 or less:

Hermès Tray Replica, Artfire.com, $99.00 (Photo: Artfire)

Hermès Tray Replica, Etsy.com, $125 (Photo: Etsy Seller)

I still felt like $100 was too much for a replica.  So, I searched for just a simple tray instead.  That’s when I found this one I decided for in the end on eBay!

Orange Lacquer Tray, eBay, $20 (Photo: Timeless Settings)

I like that it has the mirrored bottom, and also loved the price!  You can find this one on eBay from seller Timeless-Settings for a mere $20!  Score!  There is also a round one you can buy for $52 dollars, but again, that starts to get a bit out of my price range, so I stuck with the $20 tray.  You can find the round one, here.

Honestly, initially, I didn’t have plans to make my own Hermès DIY tray; but, then, I happened to come across this decal while shopping for decals for my office wall and decided I’d give it a try!

Hermès Wall Decal, Trading Phrases, $14.99 (Photo: Trading Phrases)

They have several sizes, but happen to have a decal that measures 5.5″ x 1″.  The size is perfect for the side of the tray I found on eBay!!  I ordered both and one week later, I had my own Hermès replica tray for about $35!  Here’s a sneak peak of the tray:

Tray without logo (Photo: Chic In Academia)

Tray without logo, another view (Photo: Chic in Academia)

Tray with logo.  DIY Success!! (Photo: Chic in Academia)

What do you think?!  I’m personally pretty excited about the way it turned out!  I’m not quite done decorating and this bar cart is not quite styled the way I want it yet, so stay tuned for an update on the make over and all the final details.  In the meantime, I wanted to share this with you before the trays sell out!  Keep up with my updates on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.  I’d  also love to hear what you think about the DIY or what you think of the bar styling so far, so leave a comment below!  I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I can’t wait to hear from you!

Until next time!  Stay chic!