Today I thought I’d share a little peek at what our living room looks like right now and maybe give you a few ideas for styling a small round coffee table.
Our coffee table was a bit of a cluttered mess during this latest lockdown with discarded plates from snacks, half-built lego creations and papers from schoolwork all over it. I’ve been just so happy to have it though. We got this new round coffee table in November and I love its two levels and it’s smooth, flat surfaces that are perfect for a busy family living room. We have a great surface for serving snacks and playing games, and I love that the lower level allows us to clear off the top surface of the table easily while still keeping things pretty well-contained. If you’re looking for a coffee table like this, definitely go for one with the lower level. 🙂 I cleaned the coffee table up one day recently, as we all do every once in awhile, and I made a quick little video about the re-styling process to share on Instagram, just for fun. People really enjoyed it, so I thought I’d share over here as well.
The Basics of Coffee Table Styling
The goal of coffee table styling is to give yourself something beautiful and interesting to look at, while also keeping things fairly tidy and allowing space for the table to continue to be a useful surface for your day-to-day coffee tabling experiences.
Coffee Table | Dough Bowl | Rattan Tray | Nest Candle | Coastal Blues Book | Beautifully Organized Book | Living Room Rug (Washable!) | Pale Blue Throw | Similar Planter
Creating several small groupings around the table at different heights usually achieves this effect pretty well, I find.
My particular coffee table is sold out at the moment, but this one here looks pretty similar although the price is a bit less than what I paid (so I guess lucky you if you’re looking for a new coffee table! 🙂 ).
As I said, I love the two levels because they make the table so functional, but of course, they also provide an opportunity for a little extra styling, which is always a good thing.
Styling a Small Round Coffee Table
If this were a larger table, I would probably place four groupings in a symmetrical pattern around this table, but when you’re styling a small round coffee table, it’s better to go with a triangle.
When deciding on the heights of your different groupings of objects, you’ll want to think about how the table will look from all sides, but also consider which side you’ll see it from the most. Obviously you’ll want that side to be the most visually-appealing, kind of like how when you make a floral arrangement, there’s always one side that you consider to be the “good” side.
Begin by creating a “base” for each grouping of your triangle and set each grouping at a different height. I used a tray, a stack of books, and nothing as my bases. This gave me three different heights. If you use a tray that’s a bit on the large size, feel free to create different levels within it as well using more books or a decorative box.
Next choose a few beautiful objects that you want to use on your coffee table. Always use something green: either a plant, some greenery, or some flowers. Also try to include at least one object that is there solely because of its beauty. Something entirely decorative. In this case I used the big gold scribble object.
Coffee Table | Dough Bowl | Rattan Tray | Nest Candle | Coastal Blues Book | Beautifully Organized Book | Living Room Rug (Washable!) | Pale Blue Throw | Similar Planter
From there, you can play around with other items until you’ve achieved something that seems like a good fit for you.
I used a candle, a really pretty small bowl, and a little chinoiserie vase with some eucalyptus. You just want anything that serves a purpose and/or makes you happy to look at, basically.
If your table has a lower level, placing one single large item or one single stack of books underneath will anchor the look without making things look too cluttered.
Finishing Off the Coffee Table Styling
When you think you’re all done, stand back and look at your table. Check to make sure you haven’t overdone it and that you’ve left some space for the table to actually be used. Do you have a place to comfortably put down a mug and a plate of snacks? Can you put your book down when you need to get up for a second? Things like that. 🙂
And that’s all there is to it! This can be a really fun way to use things that you already own in a new way. Sometimes grouping beautiful little objects together in a new way can help them take on a whole new life and make your whole space feel refreshed. I change this coffee table around quite frequently, but I basically always follow this same formula in some variation. Follow me on Instagram to see how this table styling changes over time!
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- Things I Love More Now Than When I Bought Them (Home Edition)
- Ruggable Washable Rugs Review
- Console Tables, Runners, and Mirrors: Modern Traditional Entryway Combinations I Love
- How to Care for Fresh Eucalyptus
- The Creek Line House Decorating Idea Archives
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