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Yay! So glad I could help! For reference, my trays are approximately 11” x 17” & it takes around 8 trays for a 1000 piece puzzle. I found ivory colored stacking serving trays on Amazon years ago, but unfortunately mine are no longer available. IKEA has grey trays that are very inexpensive & a good size. When searching online check for both stacking serving trays, as well as stacking cafeteria trays. I often have two puzzles going at once so I ended up getting 16 trays total. This has been very helpful when I occasionally work a larger puzzle. 2000 pieces of course requires more trays. I start every puzzle by laying all my pieces out face up on my trays, pieces very close together to maximize space, & edge pieces on their own tray. I don’t end up having to sort using this method because I can see the pieces so well. I love being able to bring the tray up closer to my face when my back hurts. As I progress through the puzzle it’s nice to be able to sort a little by gathering similar pieces on their own tray. The trays make puzzling so much more fun! The other thing is my craft light so I’m going to leave a link to my favorite one in case that could help you as well. I love this one so much that I own three of them & also give them away as gifts. Mine has both a weighted base for stability & a large clamp base, to suit your set up. It’s fully adjustable to minimize glare. It really makes the colors & little details so much easier to see. Having a great hobby light vastly improves the entire experience! Brightech Lightview Pro Flex craft light
If you get too stuck please consider setting this puzzle aside & trying an easier one. Beginners don’t understand that there is a huge difference in difficulty depending on the image alone. So you can have a 1000 piece puzzle that is easy & a 1000 piece puzzle that’s extremely difficult, just based on the difficulty of the image, not to mention the shape of the pieces & whether it has a lot of false fits, an issue where the pieces feel like they fit anywhere. False fits means the puzzle was designed & cut poorly. Your puzzle is a fine art puzzle. They are generally considered to be some of the most difficult puzzles available. I puzzle almost every day & have an entire room with shelves for my puzzle collection, yet I rarely do fine art puzzles because they are so difficult that I don’t find them enjoyable at all. Your puzzle has very few colors, which dramatically increases the difficulty. Images that are more colorful are easier & personally I think they are more fun. I look for images that don’t have large areas of all one color, like for instance a huge area of blue sky is generally a no for me unless I’m totally in love with that image. Then I understand it’s going to take me twice as long to complete. Many new puzzlers accidentally choose an incredibly difficult puzzle the first time & then they think puzzles are too hard & they don’t enjoy the experience. Choosing an image compatible with your skill level makes a huge difference in your ability to solve & enjoy the puzzle. If you find this difficult fine art puzzle too frustrating then please consider finding a 500 piece puzzle with a colorful image & try that instead. It’s such a wonderful hobby, good for the brain, & very zen & peaceful while making the brain happy. A couple of tools make the experience better as well. For instance I have a stack of cafeteria trays approx 11” X 17” that I use for laying out all the pieces face up so I can rotate through the trays while looking for pieces, instead of having them spread out across a large area. The trays make it easier to find what you’re looking for. IKEA sells them & Amazon too. Takes about 8 trays for 1000 pieces. You also need a good craft light. Lighting makes an enormous difference in difficulty, especially with an advanced puzzle like yours. There are a lot of good craft lights available. Here’s the one I use & recommend: Brightech Lightview Pro Flex Good luck on your puzzle! I hope you enjoy it!