How to Style a Coffee Table

Decorating my coffee table is one of my favorite things to do. Honestly it’s the one spot in my home that I love to decorate the most! I’m not sure if it’s because its in the center of my living room and is one of the focal points or if it’s because I can cluster a bunch of goodies on one table and make it look lovely, either way It’s fun to do.

Today I’m going to be sharing my tips on how to style a coffee table and create different table vignettes that are both easy and fun to make and switch up when you get bored. Here are some of the things I love to add to my coffee table:

Trays|I love trays, they help to keep everything contained in one space.

Greenery | If you like plants, add them! Something about greenery makes a space come to life. If you don’t have a green thumb, then faux flowers or plants work too!

Books | One thing I love to do is include books on my coffee table. Not only for looks but also to have to look through when I’m bored. Some staple pieces I love to include are photo albums, bible, or inspiration books.

Candles or Candle Sticks | Include some candles that have fun jars! Not only will it smell good but it will be decorative as well!

Beads | Sometimes I like to throw in some wooden beads that create a fun jewelry to tie it in all together. Check out my DIY on them here.

Decor Pieces | I like a mixture of decorative pieces like vases, jars, boxes as well as some pottery at times that I collect. Whatever mood I’m in I will swap them out from time to time. If It’s seasonal I like to add something that goes with that season as well like maybe lemon potpourri or village homes during the holiday season.

So now onto styling …..

I like to gather all my pieces together and visualize how I want it to look. I love the idea of threes company sometimes four if I add a little piece to the bunch: so visually divide your table into three and place items in each area. This technique works great with large coffee tables as well like mine or on rectangular tables. (add a drawn visual).

When using a tray you can visualize the three/four inside the tray and place items in each section, stack books, add a vase and an accent decor. Trays are wonderful to add small pieces into them as well.

I like to add a mixture of texture, sizes and metals. So I like to choose one tall piece, one small piece, a metal color (silver, gold, bronze, copper) and then I like to add something with texture so it can be wood, beads, feathers, flowers etc. Also try to select contrasting colors.

Look at every angle, make sure it looks appealing from whichever angle you are looking at it. No matter where you stand in the living room that it looks good from every angle.

If you aren’t into adding too many pieces or are more on the simplistic side consider adding two to three single statement pieces that visually go well together. Add a beautiful plant with a small tray and a book, or a couple stacked books with a decor piece on top, a short flower vase and one accent decor piece like a candle (seeing the three visual rule yet?). It keeps it simple and visually appealing than just having one item on the coffee table.

However you choose to decorate your coffee table, try to make it personal to you. Add pieces that you absolutely love and tell a story. For example on my coffee table I love to add giraffes at times that I purchased from Dominican Republic on my honeymoon! I also love to add my pottery which I love to collect or my photo albums that I got custom made stacked on my coffee table for people too look through whenever they visit. Make it into a lovely display of things you love!