You've picked out a beautiful coffee table, it's in place, and then the real work begins. Because a coffee table is the only piece of furniture in your living room where everyone puts something. The remote control, a magazine, a cup of tea, the mail. Within two weeks it looks like a kitchen counter.
Yet there are those tables that always look good, even with a cup sitting next to them. The secret isn't an expensive vase, but a three-layer arrangement. Once that's in place, the clutter doesn't stand out as much. In fact, it looks like it belongs.
Why an empty coffee table inevitably becomes cluttered
An empty tabletop is an invitation. There is no place where anything belongs, so everything can go anywhere. As soon as you create one fixed spot where things come together, that changes. The rest of the table then naturally becomes the place where you briefly set down your glass, and that is exactly what a coffee table is for.
So it's not about filling the void. It's about creating a focal point.
Layer 1: the anchor
Start with something flat and wide that holds everything together. A tray, a platter, a marble slab. This is the most important layer and immediately the one that is most often skipped.
An anchor does two things at once. It gives the items on it a shared boundary, so three separate things suddenly become one whole. And it makes tidying up easy: you lift the tray, wipe the table, and put it back.
Choose an anchor that is about a third of your tabletop. Round on a rectangular table, rectangular on a round table. That contrast is more pleasing to the eye than two of the same shape.
Layer 2: height
On the anchor comes something that adds height. A candlestick, a narrow vase, a hurricane lamp. Without height, a table remains flat and you look over it without anything happening.
One rule keeps it simple: make sure you can see over it when you are sitting on the sofa. Anything above about forty centimeters will get in the way as soon as four of you are sitting together. Better to go for width than height.
A glass candlestick works particularly well here, because you can see through it. It gives you height without closing off the space. And when the candle burns in the evening, it immediately becomes the most beautiful spot in the room.
View the candlesticks · View the hurricane lamps
Layer 3: something rough
The third layer is the layer that makes the difference between a styled table and a lived-in table. Something with texture, something irregular, something that isn't smooth. A shell ornament, a piece of wood, a stack of books, a stone you picked up once.
This is where it can get personal. The first two layers are technique, this layer is you. A handmade ornament of which no second exists does more here than the most expensive object in a store.
The odd-number rule and the triangle
Two things next to each other always look as if a third is missing. Three things look complete. That's not superstition, it's how your eye works: with an even number you start comparing, with an odd number you start looking.
Furthermore, do not place those three things in a row, but in a triangle. Tall, medium, low. From every corner of the room you will see a different combination, and that makes a table look good from all sides.
Three arrangements to start with
Sleek and light. A marble tray as an anchor, a glass candlestick in the middle, a low bowl next to it. Calm, and it suits almost any interior. This works best on a marble tabletop, because the veins of the stone already do the work.
Warm and woody. A wooden board as a base, a mango wood hurricane lamp for height, a stack of books flat next to it. This is the arrangement for autumn, when the light leaves early.
Natural and soft. A round platter, a shell ornament that is slightly off-center, and a candle that stays low. Little color, lots of texture. This works well with rattan, linen, and bamboo in the rest of the room.
What you should leave out
A few things that almost always make it busier than necessary:
- More than four objects. From five on, it becomes a collection instead of an arrangement.
- Two things of the same height next to each other. Choose one and move the other.
- Something you have to look over during a conversation.
- A vase with flowers AND a candlestick AND a bowl. Those are three focal points and therefore not a single one.
And most importantly: leave space. A coffee table where nothing else can fit is no longer a coffee table, but a sideboard that hangs too low. There must always be room for a cup of coffee, otherwise it just isn't right.
Start yourself
Take everything off your table. Then place one anchor on it, one thing with height, and one thing with texture. Look at it for a day. Usually that is enough, and anything you add after that adds nothing more.
View all coffee tables at Living Lovely
Not sure which size tray or which candlestick suits your table? Feel free to send us a message with a photo, and we will help you think it through.