Are you wondering how to make your coffee table look good? Are you not sure what or how many things to put on your coffee table? Do you have no idea how to arrange the things on your coffee table?
Here are the best coffee table decor ideas and my tips for how to style your coffee table.
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Coffee tables are staples in almost every living room or family room. They hold drinks, snacks, board games, card games, and decorative items. Sometimes they even temporarily hold feet! 😉
These necessary things are easy (like coasters or space for a drink), but what decorative things do you put on a coffee table? And how do you make those things look purposeful and not random or cluttered? Here’s how!
How to Decorate a Coffee Table
When decorating a coffee table, you’ll want to keep a couple of styling rules and guidelines in mind.
The Rule of Triangles
First is the rule of triangles, which is also used with other tables, shelves, sideboards, and hutches, as shown by the pink triangle in the photo below.
In the case of a coffee table, you want to vary the height of the items, creating a triangle. In relative terms (they’re tall, medium, and short in relation to each other), you’ll need:
something tall
something medium
and something short
This type of decor triangle is super pleasing to the eye and instantly ups your decor game!
Use Gridlines
The second decorating rule or guideline is to use a grid on the surface of your coffee table, as shown by the black drawn lines on the photo below.
Many people have larger coffee tables that don’t suit a singular vase or flower arrangement type centerpiece. So instead of this singular centerpiece, think of the surface of your coffee table as a grid and arrange your items or small vignettes so that they sit inside the invisible grid spaces, keeping them looking purposeful and not cluttered.
On my square coffee table, I have four invisible quadrants. If you have a rectangular table, you’d have more like six grid squares to use.
Place each of your decor items inside one space on the grid, leaving space between the items. You can also place items on one side of the table across an invisible grid line like I do on my coffee table above to create a different type of visual balance.
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Coffee Table Decorating Ideas
The second thing to keep in mind when decorating a coffee table is what to put on it.
Use These Coffee Table Decor Staples
The basic coffee table decor staples include:
a tray and/or a bowl
fresh or faux greenery or florals
one to three taller items like candlesticks, vases, or lanterns
pretty books to use as risers for other items or just to display as coffee table books
your favorite real or battery operated candle
some sort of decorative object or objects
Most of us have at least some of these items on hand, so shop your house before you go out and buy new stuff. If you’re on a budget, you could also check out thrift or other secondhand stores for the things you need to decorate your coffee table.
Change Coffee Table Decor with the Seasons
You can easily set up a simple coffee table decor display and then swap out a couple of items to freshen it up each season!
Things like:
different greenery or florals
a different colored set or scented candle
or even a seasonal object like sugar cones in the winter, pumpkins in the fall, or a ceramic rabbit in the spring.
Decorate in Vignettes
The final thing to keep in mind when you’re styling your coffee table is to think in terms of vignettes (small groupings of decorative objects) rather than just a hodgepodge of items.
Put vignettes in each grid space that work together across the whole coffee table as a whole vignette.
For example, on my coffee table, I have a stack of books with a decorative bowl to hold the remotes that make up one vignette and I have a tray with a vase, a candle, and a decorative object as another. Then I also have a set of two different heights of candlesticks as a third vignette. They each work together on their own, but they also look great as one big coffee table vignette!
So, when you’re decorating a coffee table, create small vignettes rather than just putting out a scattered collection of decor items.
Summary
When you’re decorating your coffee table, keep two decorating guidelines in mind:
Arrange decor in triangles vertically: something tall, something medium, and something short.
Arrange decor inside invisible grid lines on the surface of the table.
Basic coffee table decor includes:
a tray and/or a bowl
fresh or faux greenery or florals
1-3 taller items like candlesticks, vases, or a lantern
pretty books to use as risers for other items or just to display
your favorite candle
some sort of decorative object
And you can change the greenery/florals, candles, and decorative objects out for a whole new look with each season if you want.
Finally, remember to leave space for people to set down a drink and a snack bowl too, because even pretty spaces need to be functional.
Does your coffee table look the way you want it to? Are you struggling with any parts of your coffee table decor?