3 WAYS TO STYLE A COFFEE TABLE OR OTTOMAN

I’ve talked many times about decorating with the things you love around your home, rotating seasonally and redecorating again. Today’s post is about 3 ways to style a coffee table or ottoman. I had fun experimenting with this one, using many of my favorite pieces.

I’m continuously looking for new and different ways to switch things up around our home. It’s like a studio in here – I’m shooting for blog posts on a regular basis, always bringing in, and rotating different ‘props’ for different stories. My family is pretty used to it by now!

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I recently shared different ways to style a console table – it’s a post full of styling tips I think you’ll love.

When I’m decorating, I’ll always use a new accessory I picked up and add it to the mix, or add a new design book. Truth be told, I get stuck in my decorating ways, and sometimes when I love something so much, I won’t change much at all.

There are so many ways you can bring your personality to your home. Keep reading for tips to style a coffee table that speak to who you are.

BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS IN BLUE AND WHITE

Blue and white is one of my favorites as you all know and I can’t have enough of it.

Especially with the plethora that’s available on the market right now – I’m continuously on the hunt for new pieces to add to my collection.

Most of you already know this about me…
It’s really funny that I haven’t used it as a grouping on our ottoman until now. But I can tell you, I am LOVING this look.

I could live in a house that’s entirely blue and white!  Since we’re in the thick of Summer, what better arrangement to be using?

You can also see how I’ve styled our ottoman for in my summer home tour post.

Many of my pieces I’ve picked up here or there, some form vintage shops, some are ‘borrowed’ from my mother’s collection, many I’ve scored in Chinatown, and others from different retailers like HomeSense (or HomeGoods), Pier 1 Imports, or Bombay Company. 

There’s just something magical that happens when I see all these beauties corralled in one place.

To add dimension and interest and to play up the summery look, I’ve added some coral, sand dollars and shells.

Not everyone collects blue and white, or has enough pieces to group together like this, but the idea is to style a coffee table like this is to display a monochromatic collection – a group of accessories and vases within the same color palette.

Look around your home and gather items that are within the same color family – even blue and green can work for this look, because they’re both cool colors.

Or, maybe you want to stick to a vibrant palette if you have some brightly colored pieces around your home.

Whether it’s one color, or two or three, it’s important to group things that are similar for this look.

Then add in three or four other objects to break it up – like I have with the coral and other accessories.

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CANDLEHOLDERS IN GLASS AND METAL

Another gorgeous way to style a coffee table is with a grouping of candles.

Please make sure that if you’re lighting candles like this, never leave them unattended, or even think of lighting them with kids or pets around!

This is an ‘adult only’ party, and even then you have to be careful, ha!Seriously though, this is look is so easy to pull off and it can work any time of year.

The best part, is it looks as beautiful when the candles aren’t lit. Keep the lighting for when it’s just a quiet evening.

Or, use this as a tablescape centerpiece, where it’s out of harm’s way.

Everyone has candleholders and everyone has glass jars or containers of some kind.

Be creative and use things you have around…mason jars, glassware – even wine glasses with tea lights can work for this look. 

Mix them in with tall candlesticks – I used different metals mixed together, but you can use any kind you like.Add in some reflective accessories like this glass sphere that I topped off this candleholder with. 

How gorgeous does that light look bouncing around in there?

Small, lower votives are a key element to this look as well. If you don’t have any, use lowball or juice glasses – I know you all have those!  I didn’t have time to retouch out my reflection and of course, I’m wearing a red t-shirt…try to ignore it if you can!

Aren’t these beautiful just like this?
And magical when they’re lit as well…

When arranging a grouping like this, make sure to use varying heights for maximum effect.

Keep them as close together as possible and fill in the empty spaces with the smallest candles.

STYLE YOUR TABLE WITH ACCESSORIES AND BOOKS

My last look on how to style a coffee table or ottoman is with your favorite pieces grouped together.

Why not gather all the things you love in one place?

If you’re like me and you have a love for accessories, this is your lucky arrangement ;)

I have to use blue and white here, so I started this look with a couple of my newer pieces, like the bowl and ginger jar.

I love this faux orchid – it looks so real and goes anywhere it gets set down.

Always a classic piece in any home, and well, the blue and white pot is too cute.Bowls, agate bookends, decorative lacquer boxes and small dishes are all things I love to collect and have multiples of.

Arranging them atop a stack of beautiful books (design and decorating books in my case) is a no-fail way to showcase your beloved beauties.I use this basic styling trick everywhere in our home and it’s the easiest way to show off the pieces you love.

Anything that’s raised up on something suddenly has more importance and your eye is drawn in.

If you don’t have a lot of books, you can use magazines to start – fashion magazines, decorating magazines or National Geographic would make a fabulous statement with those gorgeous yellow spines.

Try to keep the look clean and use magazines with thicker spines that are bound like a book – not the stapled kind!

You want to avoid anything that may look cluttered.
I arranged these stacks in an evenly spaced grid-like pattern, and I covered as much space as possible for strong visual impact.

You can play around with your color palette – mine uses black and white, different blue tones and some green, with a touch of brown – all which are neutrals.

This idea is create a ‘collected’ look of your favorite things. Be sure when grouping items together, you have a cohesive color palette, to avoid a cluttered look. 

Keep in mind that whatever you’re using will add color – so the top book is something you want to pay attention to. 

Thanks so much for stopping in, I hope you found some tips that you can use on your coffee table! Tell me your favorite look in the comments below! I also want to know what you’d like to see…I want to hear all about it! xo