Coffee Table Styling 101
Tips and tricks for curating your perfect collection.
I put a lot of emphasis on the importance of personal style in interiors and how much more captivating a home is when it feels lived-in, collected, and unique. While every element helps to tell the story, books, accessories, and objects are a visual window into one’s personality. One of my favorite places to display these items is on a coffee table and in this edition of The Up & Up, I will breakdown everything from what you need to how to design and style the perfect coffee table setup. I’ve also included visual inspo and some shopping lists to help round out your collection, let’s get into it!
Curating your Assortment
Styling a coffee table is a skill that combines the art of aesthetics with organization and balance. The base layer for me is always coffee table books and trays, adding these in first helps establish your zones and gives you a space to build upon and from there you can add your other objects. Candles are another easy and vibey addition, personally I love pillar candles inside a glass hurricane but you can get creative here. I love bringing in natural elements as well, I live by the beach so shells and coral are elements I like to include. I also like to display my thrifted finds here, decorative boxes, sculptural elements, smaller trays, etc.
Things to keep in mind when curating your coffee table assortment: You are looking to achieve harmony, so you need a variety of objects that compliment each other. Some people like to stick with a neutral color palette that is more tonal, others like more color and contrast, both are beautiful but make sure if you are committing to whichever style you choose. Having an all cream base with one bright blue book for instance will look off, so try adding more brights in, or removing that book.
It’s also important to keep in mind the material of your coffee table, If your coffee table is rattan for instance, steer away from a rattan tray, maybe go for a stone or lacquer tray. Conversely if your coffee table is glass or stone warming it up with a rattan tray would be lovely. It’s all about BALANCE.
Sourcing Lists curated by moi…
For those of you looking to source additional coffee table books, here are some of my favorites and wishlist books available on amazon.
SHOP MY COFFEE TABLE BOOK ROUNDUP
If you are looking to uplevel when it comes to your decorative objects, I’ve currated a list of my faves/pieces of been eyeing, some are one of a kind vintage so if you see something you like snap it up.
SHOP MY COFFEE TABLE ACCESSORIES ROUNDUP
Tips and tricks for designing your layout…
While this isn’t an exact science for those of you who don’t know where to begin its helpful to establish a grid to work within and build from there. For larger coffee tables I like working in collections of 3, 4 and 6s, this will obviously depend on your table shape, and I’ve included a mockup of my favorites below. If you have a smaller coffee table, I recommend working with between 1-3 little collections on a table.
Once you’ve chosen your grid layout I like to start building my collections, before we go into the stacks, another thing to keep in mind! Vary up the shape of your layers with the shape of your coffee table. For instance, if you have a smaller rectangular table it’s nice to throw in an oval or round shaped tray as a base layer just to create a little tension and soften up the angles, if you are stictly using books you can also add in softer rounded edges on the upper layers as well. On the flip side, if you have a round coffee table, like me I love creating some angles with square or rectangular base layers.
From there you build your little vignettes or collections, to properly showcase my items I like to create dimension with different heights by stacking. This is so important because if everything is on the same level it just looks like a bunch of junk on a table, but by elevating certain pieces it gives them their own moment and space. To make your individual pieces stand out, make sure you use different materials, like wood, stone, metal, glass, up against each other so they stand out from each other and don’t all blend together. Also consider varying the shape, scale, and type of objects to create cohesive contrast. See below for some inspo I love!
The finishing touch for me on any coffee table is always fresh flowers. They always bring life and add a little color to your collection and I love the way different bringing in different flowers can change the look of a room. Obviously flowers also change with the seasons, which allows you to “refresh” your coffee table decor regularly depending on your mood or what you are hosting.
Happy coffee table styling everyone! If you have any questions or comments leave them here!
xSarah