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You've finally got the coffee table of your dreams - the crowning centre point of your living space - now, what do you... do with it? Ideally, we'd all have immaculately styled coffee tables, you know the ones, with perfectly stacked fashion books, designer candles and magnificent floral arrangements. In reality, more often than not, our coffee tables are home to the clutter crew, a rag-tag bunch of random remotes, half-read magazines, kids' playthings and other 'that's where that is!' deposits. So how do you balance pretty and practical? Here are a few quick tips to take your coffee table style from messy to Masterful.
Height
The first, and probably only golden rule, is to embrace the highs and lows. Taking it from the top, it's a good idea to have at least one tall item, be it a plant, candlestick or sculpture and then work your way down to lower, wider items like books or bowls. Balancing height and scale, means that your coffee table styling doesn't fall flat - in both senses of the word.
Positioning
Having one dominant central object grounds your display and allows you to display smaller items of equal visual weight around it. With a square design like the Selene Coffee Table, it can be a good idea to split the area into quadrants so you can section your elements and create balance and symmetry, further highlighting Selene's best assets. With something more curvaceous like our Blondie, go with the flow and position your items off centre and more unstructured.
Balance
A sense of balance should also extend to the materials on your coffee table. If your coffee table is all sleek lines, and hard edges, it could feel a little cold and benefit from some warmer, natural textures, such as timber or woven touches, like our Lorenzo Coffee Table. This also goes with colour - the more you mix it up, the more interest your coffee table will generate - basically your coffee table should be THE spot for your most eye-catching and engaging pieces. At this point we'll let you in on a stylist's secret weapon, the vessel! A sweet, simple way to gather the small but necessary elements you'd like to include, without them looking all at sea on a vast surface.
Personality
As in any styling endeavour, it's vital to imbue the scene with your sense of personality. The objects on your coffee table should tell a story about your world. Maybe it's a prized piece of foraged driftwood or a collection of your favourite books that draw you in time, and time again, the key to great coffee table styling is to make it unique to you.
Which brings us to the core of the task, how do you like to use your coffee table? While we know it can be tempting to show off everything you love at once, rein it in! Avoiding clutter means your coffee table still maintains its main function to you, whether that be hosting a raucous game night, or gathering for a quiet, hot cuppa. Instead try and use a few key pieces and swap them out seasonally, keeping your style fresh, unforced, and inviting, just the spot you envisioned when you set eyes on your new living room focal point.
Shop our range of decor and accessories to style your coffee table here.
