The coffee table is the centre of the living room

The coffee table is the centre of the living room. While it can be the obvious landing area for remote controls and magazines, it’s also a place where your style can come to life. There is some science to creating a coffee table or footstool, such as using objects in varying heights, but the magic mainly comes from an artful mix of flowers, books, trays, and unexpected personal objects.

When styling your coffee table, a tray is a must. It will keep everything contained and staged, making it easy to bring your look together. Choose one that’s in proportion to your table, but don’t be afraid to introduce a new shape, such as a square tray on a rectangular or round table. Working within the confines of your tray will also help prevent your space becoming cluttered – if something doesn’t fit, find somewhere else to display it.

You can also try using a small pile of magazines or coffee-table books in place of a tray.

The key to any good coffee table is a variety, of both texture and height. You can keep things interesting by stacking books next to a beautiful candle and a vase of fresh flowers on a simple white coffee table.

Stack books and place decorative objects, like bowls, an interesting paper weight, a vase of flowers, on top of each. Individual stacks will help make it feel more compact and less cluttered.

Large coffee tables don’t feel so massive when you layer on a tray. It helps breaks up the surface.

Incorporate objects that are a representation of you, like items picked up on exotic holidays or antique pieces handed down the family. They add character to a room as well as beauty.

An edgy mix of chrome-finished vessels and a black-and-white tray turns a neutral coffee table into a stunning living room scene.

Trays

The first layer to styling any coffee table has got to be a beautifully crafted tray. If your table is particularly small in size, you may want to skip this step.

There are so many different styles of trays out there at the moment – from mirrored ones to rustic wooden – not to mention the quirky shapes available too. The choices really are endless! The perks of having a tray on your coffee table is that you can display personal nick knacks on them, candles, diffusers, vases – almost anything else featured in this post.

So if you have the space, we would recommend using a tray that is at least a third of  the size of your table. This way you can leave enough clear space around the edges to still see the table surface itself. My top tip for trays is to position it off-centre on your table – slightly to one side so you have space for some of the other accessories.

“Group Collections”

Whether it’s a collection of natural coral or blue & white Chinese pottery, we find they tend to have more of a visual impact when grouped together.

Mixing “old” & “new”

Mix a vintage chandelier with a sleek, lacquered dining table or a classic sofa with a antique gilded coffee table.  Incorporating different styles and periods help a room from feeling flat and uninteresting and gives that enchanting eclectic look. To the interiors.

“Layering”

A room isn’t complete until it’s been accessorised and styled.  We find layering gives the most impact. Coffee table books, vases of flowers or orchids, vintage accessories…