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.
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.
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
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.
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!
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
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…
I love your coffee table so much! As much as I try and do mine, the kids move things and replace the pretty things with lego and toys cars. Can I ask where your coffee table is from? so beautiful
Aww thank you Elaine! My coffee table is from West Elm :) xxx
Great tips and I wish they’d sell this pineapple here. Love it
The pineapple is from a brand called Bloomingville if that helps at all :) xxx
Thank you.
Great tips and so fabulously you – I mean the accessories, not the tips ;-) xo
ah if anything could make me go over to the bright side it would be your beautiful blog. You are talented indeed. Love your coffee table vignette and tips.
Hope you are feeling better now. xx
These guides are a great reference. You totally nailed that coffee table styling. My issue is that I’ve never had an official coffee table. What’s that about? But there’s a statement one going into one of my projects and I just can’t wait to get fiddling. Sounds a bit wrong. Hope you’re finally on the mend misses x
This is so lovely! I’m obsessed with your coffee table books – I think I need ALL of those in my life!
Love it. I’ve been meaning to do my coffee table post as requested by another blog but have not quite found time. Love your styling. x
You have such an incredibly glam living room, I am green with envy! This is fab advice and really clever – there’s nothing worse than a cluttered coffee table but this looks v stylish and naturally styled. Fab post. PS how do you manage to keep such a pristine home with pets? I am constantly undoing the mess our dog creates!!! x
Aww thank you so much! Oh my goodness Katie, your question could not have come at a more perfect time. My blog post today is about EXACTLY that (did you read my mind? I’m a little scared) ;)
http://www.swoonworthy.org/2016/04/living-with-pets.html/
xxx
Oh my gosh that is weird! No, I didn’t read your mind but I can hardly wait to read your living with pets post! Brilliant x
That looks perfect, I would love to have a nice coffee table but with young kids it is such a accident waiting to happen! As soon as they are old enough….I’m having one!
Very stylish indeed! Love the gold and the pink. SO chic. I have just bought a new coffee table and am enjoying styling mine too! Jess xx
Hi! Where did you get your actual coffee table? :)
It’s from West Elm :) xx
Love love love this! Thank you so much for the help. It has completely made over my living room. Can I ask where you got your curtains? I’m obsessed!
So happy it helped Mary! Yay! And you’ll be happy to know the curtains are Sanela from Ikea, I just converted the tops to a pinch pleat (it’s much easier than you’d think)
http://www.swoonworthy.org/2015/03/ikea-curtain-hack-converting-a-grommet-header-to-pencil-pleats.html/
xxx
where did you get the hobnail round gold vase?
Where did you get the round gold hobnail vase?
Hi Liz, Sorry I missed this comment! It was from H&M Home but clear glass – I spray painted it gold with Montana Gold Gold Chrome spray paint ;) xx
Really love your styling & have taken inspiration for my own coffee table. I am interested to know where you got the round studded vase on the tray.
It was from H&M Home but clear glass – I spray painted it gold with Montana Gold Gold Chrome spray paint ;) xx
Thank you Kimberly I so admire your style!
Thank you so much for the tips. I like this coffee table.
I love this! well done you! Where did you get your tray from please?
Thank you! The tray was from H&M although they no longer stock this particular one but they do have a lovely selection of others on site :) xx