15 Designer Tips for Styling Your Coffee Table

Nothing makes for a cluttered surface faster than a large collection of small knick-knacks. Contrastingly, displaying only large items can look heavy and cumbersome. To keep your coffee table balanced, vary the scale of display items and stack or group like objects together.  

When working with an oversized coffee table, knowing where to begin can be half the battle. Our tip: tape off sections to form a grid and position objects within the squares. This helps compartmentalize your styling and makes the entire task less intimidating. 

As a living room focal point, your coffee table is a great place to rotate seasonal decorative elements. For example, nothing says spring like a vase of fresh tulips. In summer, place a sea conch on a stack of books for beachy vibes, then come fall, swap out the shell for a pumpkin or gourd. 

When all items are at the same eye level, nothing gets noticed. To create a more eye-catching vignette, vary the height and scale of your coffee table's decorative objects, as designer Charles Faudree has here.