As both Wayne and I have been battling colds for the past week, we decided to take it easy this weekend and give ourselves a break from the last 8 or so weeks of constant DIY on the dining room. The only things we did were hang a blind and install the door handles and that was more for the sake of convenience – giving us a little privacy in the evenings and allowing us to easily open and close the doors! – rather than in the spirit of ‘we need to get this done NOW’ ;) Other than that, there was a lot of sitting around, watching videos on You Tube, catching up on blogs, taking naps in the middle of the day (bliss!) and generally just taking it easy. I haven’t had a weekend like that in ages so I admit, it was kind of nice and I’m grateful that we’re both starting toΒ feel a bit better.

coffee table styling - brass cranes, marble coffee table, pink flowers, white and gold pineapple, brass tray, pink candle

So while I won’t have an update for you this week on the dining room, I did want to share the most recent iteration of my coffee table vignette. I change it all the time – sometimes just swapping out one or two things, sometimes recreating the whole thing from scratch but I realised that I do have a bit of a formula for creating my vignettes that always seems to give me a pleasing-looking outcome so I figured I’d share that with you today.

coffee table styling - brass cranes, marble coffee table, pink flowers, white and gold pineapple, brass tray, pink candle

Now, as you know, I could never be a minimalist so if you like that sort of thing, then this is probably not the formula to follow. I would encourage you to find a pretty vignette you do like on Pinterest, in magazines or blogs and see if you can deconstruct it to recreate it in a similar way. However, these are the following elements I try to include on nearly every coffee table vignette I create. So let’s break it down first.

The 7Β Elements for My Perfect Coffee Table

Deconstructing the Coffee Table Vignette - How to Style a Coffee Table

Books

You can’t go wrong with some pretty coffee table books. I like to stack them in three’s because odd numbers always look better in design. I also try to bear in mind my color palette in the space. As I have quite a lot of touches of pinks, leopard print and black and white, I chose books with spines to marry with this scheme.

A Tray

A tray will always corral any smaller bits and make them look more purposeful, rather than just looking like a bunch of random stuff that hasn’t been put away. If you have a lot of square objects (ie, books) on your table than contrasting that with a oval or round tray will soften some of those edges and make your vignette look a little more balanced.

Something with Height

Varying the height of your objects will always make for a more pleasing display than if everything is the same height. This also goes for the shapes of objects too so make sure you’ve got items that are both tall and short as well as items that vary in shape to provide interest in your vignette. If everything is the same height or shape, your vignette will look a little ‘flat’ to the eye.

Something Living

You will not see a coffee table styled by a professional that doesn’t have some bit of life on it. Flowers always look pretty and can add some colour to a vignette but you can also add a plant to give the display a bit of texture and an organic element. Steer clear of the more formal bouquets out there and just purchase a few blooms within the same palette and cut them short and pack them tight so their blousy heads just pop out of a shorter vase.

Something Personal

You want people to be able to get a glimpse of your personality when they look at your coffee table. On ours, I save the champagne corks for any celebration we share and display those in a little bowl. You can use items from your travels, mementoes from family and friends, items that have been in the family for generations – pretty much anything goes.

A Candle

A nice candle will always add atmosphere once the darkness falls and you’ll get bonus points if it smells good too. This weekend, I ended up taking that little glass votive and actually making a proper candle with essential oils out of it rather than use the tealight (I find making candles quite relaxing!) but obviously, there are plenty of gorgeous smelling ones on the market at every different price point.

Something Quirky

I always like to include a little conversation piece in my coffee table vignette as well. Just something a little different or humorousΒ will show off your personality and make your coffee table a little more fun. I received that cute pineapple as a gift recently from Out There Interiors (I wasn’t under any obligation to share it on the blog but I wanted to!) and I just love how it adds a bit of texture and glam to my table. Adding something a bit quirky will give your table a sense that you don’t take yourself too seriously which I quite like.

coffee table styling - brass cranes, marble coffee table, pink flowers, white and gold pineapple, brass tray, pink candle

If you like the look of my table, I’ve actually also broken it down for you to get the look yourself.

*An asterisk denotes an affiliate link. You don’t pay any more but I get a few pennies towards new pretties for my living room. Win win!

Coffee Table Get The Look - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

1 – Glass Bowl / 2 – Elements of Style Book* / 3 – Things We Love Book* / 4 – Ikat Bowl / 5 – Pair of Brass Cranes / 6 – Gold Tray / 7 – Pink Glass Votive / 8 – Glamorous Rooms Book* / 9 – White and Gold Pineapple Ornament

coffee table styling - brass cranes, marble coffee table, pink flowers, white and gold pineapple, brass tray, pink candle - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

Now there’s no excuse for not having a pretty coffee table!

What do you have on your coffee table? Go on, share with me…

 


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