Coffee tables naturally attract stuff: remotes, coasters, candles, books, maybe a plant, definitely some random thing that hasn’t found its home yet. Spread out, they look like clutter.
Put a tray down, and suddenly you have a defined zone. Most items sit inside the tray—remotes, candle, small vase, coasters. Your brain now reads this as “one arrangement” instead of ten separate objects. The rest of the table can stay clear for cups or laptops.
That simple boundary tricks the eye into seeing order, not mess. You haven’t reduced the number of things much; you’ve just given them a clear, contained stage.