How To Style A Large Coffee Table
When we were designing & buying decor for this space, one thing we knew we wanted was a really large coffee table in front of our sectional couch. We found this large wood table at the Restoration Hardware outlet (if you are in Washington it is currently in Bellevue and has tons of brand new marked down furniture - you can find things for $100’s of dollars off!) and fell in love with it because of the size. I also really wanted something that would be super sturdy, and last us a really long time. In our last place the coffee table was fairly small so not much fit on it. This one is obviously very large and I wanted to have a cozy feel to it!
styling a large coffee table
Obviously you can really decorate to whatever your style is; my personal home style is a transitional and traditional, which tends to have a warm and inviting feel, while having touches of a simplistic/modern design. In my mind a large coffee table like this should have a few different things on it..
I. Books (can be home design or anything you are currently reading)
2. An anchoring piece (vase, bowl, larger decor item)
3. Candles (add warmth & coziness)
4. Something unique but practical (coasters, a water carafe)
I. I think stacking books on one end of the coffee table gives it a very filled in look, while staying simple. I actually like to stack the books a couple high, and use them almost as a stand for a cool piece of pottery or a ceramic bowl. To play on the rectangle shape of the books (they kinda puzzle piece into each other) I found this really cool marble dish that I put some flameless candles in. I want someone to sit down on the couch and feel like they can crack open a book and just enjoy the space.
2. The other side of the coffee table I have a large vase that is slightly off centered. I bought this one from Pottery Barn and I love the rustic look of it compared to the clean edges of the books on the other side of the table. Seasonally I will add different stems or dried flowers in to it. The switch gives a nice touch of that specific season in the room without feeling like I have to overly decorate or change up the whole table. Investing in a large vase or bowl that you can use to decorate each season is actually a smart way to save money - because you are not changing out the item every time you decorate the table, rather you are just adding something into the vase when you decorate.
3. Of course I’ve got lots of flameless candles all over the table because I have a two year old toddler who loves to play with them haha and real candles just are not in my future at the moment lol. I actually really love these because they’re battery operated & easy to use, they add a nice glow to the table during the day or night. I liked a bunch of them in groups of two or three, having them grouped together gives them more of an anchor on the table instead of it looking random if there’s only one or two. This is a great way to add some warmth and brightness to a room.
4. A practical touch that I think it’s also cute are coasters. I bought these on Etsy about two years ago and I really love them. They are made of glass and I love the checkered black and white. Whatever your style is you could easily add that style of coasters to the table! I feel like it is a practical touch because if you have people sitting around the table you want them to be readily available to use.
I feel like this is such a nice balance of items on the table because you can swap them out seasonally, if you want to decorate for the holidays you can add ornaments to a ceramic bowl, you could add flowers for spring and summer into the vase, or swap out the books if you had new ones or different colored books if you wanted a pop of color. I also think this particular way of styling the coffee table looks inviting & simple but not cluttered for how many things are on the table. Of course this is just styled to my particular style, but I think any variation of these items on the coffee table look nice & inviting, and have a sense of practicality to them without having a coffee table that is covered in random things.. or the opposite of that would be just having a coffee table that has nothing on it. I think this is a really nice balance! xx
Here I have them styled for fall (easily add stems into the vase) and winter (ornaments in the ceramic add a simple holiday touch).
You can do real candles as well - obviously not toddler safe hah but I love the glow!