Say yes to aesthetics AND everyday functionality.
Updating your living room is simpler than you might think. An important element to creating an effortless yet curated living room lies in how you style your coffee table. As the central focus of your living room, your coffee table can dramatically enhance or detract from your decor. We’ve compiled a guide for styling your coffee table, offering pro tips and suggestions for what items to place on your coffee table and how to arrange them to create a beautifully livable area you'll enjoy for years to come.
1. Visualize Grid Pattern
2. Lay a Foundation
3. Scale (and Why It's Important)
4. Consider Your Decorating Style
5. Functionality for Daily Living
6. Why the Rule of Three's Really Works
7. Avoid Overcrowding
Content may contain affiliate links. When you shop these links, we receive a small commission at no cost to you.
Visualize Grid Pattern
I recommend starting with a blank slate and deciding how to balance decor elements. Balance is key when it comes to styling a coffee table, and to help with this, professional interior designers visually break the table into grids. This hack simplifies decorating a coffee table, or any table for that matter. I like that it breaks the project up into manageable pieces, making it less intimidating. Examples below will give you visual ideas for grid options on coffee tables in varying shapes. By using the grid hack, you'll effortlessly achieve balance every time.
Rectangle coffee tables tips: look best with longer, standard sofas or between facing sofas. Aim for a rectangle coffee table to be two-thirds width of your sofa.
Square coffee table tips: will ground an L-shaped sectional and evenly fit in the space. They are also the best choice for an expansive room bringing balance and symmetry.
Round coffee table tips: are great for smaller areas, or in a high-traffic area, or with small children because they'll reduce bumps and bruised shins. Rounds tables will also work well with an L-shaped sectional, balancing the shape of the sofa, while reducing the footprint of a square table.
Irregular coffee table tip: place decorative objects at irregular intervals for a cohesive aesthetic. Below is a great example!
Lay a Foundation
Placing coffee table books down first as a foundation is an easy way to begin. I like to place the books facing seating areas to encourage guests to browse. Next, add elements of interest in varying heights.
Scale (and Why It's Important)
Scale is important for the size of a coffee table, but just as important to consider for choosing decor for tabletop. A general rule of thumb, is that the coffee table should be half to two-thirds the width of your sofa. Then, to keep the scale of the room balanced, choose elements for the coffee table that are similar in scale with the coffee table. This is especially true with stems or floral arrangement height. For example, an extravagantly tall arrangement will overwhelm a smaller table.
Consider Your Decorating Style
Regardless of the style or color theme you choose for your tabletop, it's important to be consistent with your use of color. The colors of elements used on your coffee table should be in harmony with your style in the room.
Using neutral tones create a soothing feel to the room, bright colors will enliven a room, and darker colors will add contrast.
For a cohesive look, keep decor for coffee table similar in style to that of the room, but always incorporate design elements that have personal meaning to you. Again, the goal is not to be perfect.
Functionality for Daily Living
While we focus on styling a coffee table to be aesthetically pleasing, perfection is not the goal. This is your home and you want it to be comfortable and wholly livable for daily life.
To keep clutter items such as remotes, coasters, chargers (that make your living space a comfortable hangout) handy but not sacrifice style, use trays, baskets or decorative boxes. Personally, I prefer decorative boxes simply because you can completely cover it all up with a lid.
Add in elements of interest in varying heights but not so high as to block view.
Why the Rule of Three's Really Works
You've probably heard about the rule of 3's when it comes to decorating and interior design, but this is why it actually works. The human eye finds groups of objects in odd numbers more visually appealing (seriously-there are studies about this) so using 3 or 5 objects when you're grouping will just look better. Period.
This applies to using elements with varying heights and textures-always more visually appealing. This rule of three's applies from objects in a tray, to a stack of books. Using this rule, especially with the grids we talked about earlier simply works-taking out any guesswork of whether the outcome will be balanced and aesthetic.
Avoid Overcrowding
Less is more. A coffee table with a few, high-quality, well-chosen elements wins every time over overcrowding this space. For example, on a small round coffee table in a minimalist room, a single branch in an architectural vase would be perfect. Leave ample room to set a glass or to put your feet up.
For more table decorating tips, check out How to Decorate Console Behind Couch That Will Look Like You Hired a Professional Designer!
And coming soon, GWS will be offering a curated line of home decor products. Check back for all the details! Can't wait to share with you!
