Alternate Title:: The life and times of an average coffee table
Here’s my trusty coffee table. Technically, it’s a little big compared to my sofa but, lucky for me, I’m not very technical. I’ve considered getting a new to me table but, this one works so well for our family with its sturdy enough to dance on surface.
In my 15 years of wifeyness we’ve always had some kind of coffee table and I’ve always struggled with how to accessorize it.
I have lots of pretty things that I want to show off. Some are tall, some are wide, some are breakable, most are useless.
Some are fun.
Sometimes it simply flowers and dirty socks.
I have a thing for flat surfaces, I like to use them to show off my pretty things that I love. All flat surfaces in my home are subject to my daily abuse of trial and error. Constantly moving things around to see what works best.
The problem was, I always needed to USE the coffee table for actual work.
Or play.
Or my sister’s feet and the People magazine’s crossword puzzle that my husband can complete in about 12 minutes. It’s a gift.
Or every day, regular life.
And all of those photos are just from the last two months since my white slipcovers. Just think how many other beautiful, unnecessary objects I’ve displayed over the years. I’m confident I should have a world record for something.
So, I’ve finally figured out the secret to decorating my coffee table.
I leave it empty.
Yep, every morning, I clear it off. No pretty centerpiece, no bowl of fruit that we prop our cheese nips box on, no tray of prettiness. I found I was constantly moving whatever was displayed on the coffee table so that we could use it for something else. And one day, I wondered what would happen if I quieted the coffee table and just kept it that way. Yes, we still use it for putting anything we want on it, but, I haven’t ordained that space for a certain pretty. We can eat a snack there, fold clothes, work on a paper. But, when we are done, the table is just empty. It’s been so freeing in a weird way.
So, I’m not saying that if I get a bucket of hydrangeas again, I won’t put them on my coffee table, because they do make a nice photo, but, in my real life, this table will most likely be empty. Unless it’s not.
What’s on your coffee table?
I accessorize my coffee table with a galvenized pitcher full of seasonal flowers and three varying height candles from Pier 1. What keeps my coffee table functional and easy to use is the tray I keep all of the accessories on. I have a nice dark wood tray from Target that I rest all of these lovlies on, so when I’m ready to have the coffee table clear I can remove everything in one fell swoop. Not to mention, it makes the accessories easy to transition to another space and still be pretty on the dining table, kitchen bar, or even on the guest bed.
Well I’ll be…. When I first started reading your post and saw all the pretty pictures I was A) a smidge jealous, and B) thinking that just doesn’t work in our house. And then you had to get all “Nester” on my butt and show me the reality of your life…which oddly matches the reality of mine.
I used to try to make artfully arranged vignettes on our coffee table, but then I faced the harsh reality that it was just nuts…as we tried to peer over the sea of topiaries to watch tv :). Now I just usually have one plate with a couple candles on it. Simple – easy to move out of the way – and perfect for ambient lighting when they’re not covered with socks :).
Thanks for the post darlin’. xoxo
we mostly keep ours empty as well. it gets clothes folded on it often. snacks eaten on it daily. little boys using it as a perch to jump onto the couch constantly. crafts & art projects. it gets USED. i do have a big ol’ baskety bowl thing with some grapevine balls in it that sits there a lot. only because the boys can’t really hurt it. love this post. the end.
This is great! My mom never had anything on her coffee table for years (probably because we were known to break anything and everything pretty…). My current coffee table set up looks like this:
http://tellerallaboutit.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/table-scaping/
…but I admit to switching it up pretty often, especially when I get pretty flowers ;-).
xoxo,
Lindsay
I have a similar large black coffee table. It has an old egg basket filled with magazines/catalogs that need to be read/looked at and a starfish. Nice and easy and non-breakable!
I love your living room BTW…I want those curtains! :)
I have to keep ours empty too except for the basket of remotes. Ours is a little smaller than yours. Even though I don’t encourage eating in the living room there is no telling my husband what he can’t do so he has to have the coffee table for his eating surface. And the kids need it for their numerous small toys.
I’m thinking of resurfacing a large round coffee table that has been sitting outside to use as our bbq odds and ends dropsite. Maybe if start using that table inside I can “think” about accessorizing it in some way.
I love to see a picture-perfect home actually being used! Thanks for this post and finally giving me “permission” to clear off the coffee table. Bless you!
I wondered where you were going with this post? Too cute!
I like the idea of leaving it empty but oh my how I love it all decorated up. My hubs would thank me if I emtied it though. I have the usual runner, tray with candles and scroll bowl with orbs. I love it. Nice post!
Have a blessed day. ~Melissa
LOVE that bucket of hydrangeas…I have enough blooms right now to fill a large coffee cup. ;)
Right now, my coffee table has a tray stacked with WAY many unread magazines. :s Guess I need to sit down and start readin’!
As much as I love all the pretty ways you accessorized, it looks nice empty too. Ready for the day and whatever it will bring. :)
Sadly, I have no coffee table…probably because I’d just have to clear it everyday, too! I have an ottoman that the kids sit on, my feet go on, and sometimes I lay my laptop on! I’m a practical creature but don’t like all the clutter laying around. That’s why I have a sofa table and side tables…to put drinks on and the other stuff!
LOL, I’ve had dirty socks (and many other dirty things!) on my coffee table many times! :)
I’m a first time poster, I discovered your blog a couple of weeks ago. Love your home, love your style! I’m currently “summerizing” my home, thank you for the great ideas & inspiration. If possible, can you please tell me where you got the gorgeous throw pillows on your couch? Thanks so much.
By the way, I’m obsessed with hydrangeas, too! :)
Have a great weekend!
We’re pretty boring- coasters and a large bowl full of magazines. Usually the bowl is also full of doll cothes, ponytail holders, art projects, etc. No pretty displays for us!
My coffee table is a large leather ottoman with wheels(also serves as extra seating). That way we can just roll it against the wall if we need extra space. I normally keep a silver tray with a glass vase and some filler in it–right now its filled with white coral. I also have a candle on the tray and usually the remote control. I keep magazine and what-nots under the ottoman in a low basket. This works better for me and my family than any other table/arrangement I’ve had in the past. I used to change it constantly too. It really is freeing to find something that works.
I have nearly every usable (not up high) flat surface in my home bare. It is much more open, less cluttered & I actually USE those surfaces when there isn’t stuff “in my way”.
Hooray for a blank coffee table.
i have a great coffee table that I bought at a yard sale for $30 bucks and I’ve been wanting to paint it and get it in my front room that used to be the dining room but we never used it as a dining room so it’s just a catch all room. I plan on changing that this summer.. here’s hoping :)
Every single time I see your living room I want it.. I want to recreate the whole thing…
We don’t have a busy household, so the only rule for my coffee table is: nothing tall enough that we can’t see the tv over it:) I just usually have a small hurricane with one candle that I can light when company is over or just for the heck of it. Our table also has a shelf below the top with two drawers underneath, so I am able to keep coffee table books and a tray with remotes,etc on the lower portion without need to ever move them out of the way. I love it!
Hi there, I am a new reader but I thought I would knock your socks off with my coffe table LOL!!! I don’t have one and won’t own one anytime soon!! GASP!!! I have so many children in the house (10 so far, three are actually out on their own leaving 7 still at home – ages 22 down to 15 months!) that the coffee table was a safety hazzard. In the early days I was afraid one of them would fall on it and poke their eye out or something horrible like that LOL!…then they just kept coming and I still don’t have one. Now, side tables, that is a different matter!
I love your site!
Thank you,
Chrissy
i love this post! my coffee table has been emply for 12 years. i started having babies and the accessories were always at perfect eye level for them. they tossed everything off. i gave up pretty quick.
Ah David Hick’s “tablescapes”!! Nice!
I just found your blog thru random blog browsing–looks nice!
is that a twilight book? in the photo showing the tv in the armiore?
Um, I’m kind of embarassed to admit this, but I have never owned a coffee table! Or any side tables either. Yup, no tables at all in my living room! Originally we didn’t get any because we were the typical new parents who didn’t want our angel to hurt herself. She’s almost 13. I think she will be fine, but we’ve just never bought one. I think it’s time, don’t you?
This is the trouble I always have – it seems like I need more space on my coffee table once I cover it with the pretty stuff. and the tall stuff can be a problem because my furniture faces each other! But mostly, I wanted to ask where you got your coffee table – I LOVE it. I’ve had a hard time finding black/espresso furniture that isn’t really contemporary/modern. Care to share?
My coffee table is a trunk. It’s new but cheap which I wanted because the kids tend to put food on the trunk and I didn’t want to have something that I cared that much about.
I have a tray on the trunk for the remotes and there’s a basket for candy and such. There’s still room to put my feet up so I’m happy.
The nice thing about the trunk is that it can be moved and used as additional seating. Since my living room is small, this is a good thing!
The coffee table in the picture isn’t a trunk…that’s the one I’m asking about.
I just love your living room with your striped curtains! Every time I look at it I want to modify our space to make it as lovely as yours.
We have a similar coffee table, but it doesn’t matter how I arrange it – it’s undone within a few hours. Or minutes. I have a 2.5 yr old & a 4.5 yr old!
Kacey
I just did a post about my problems with accessorizing my coffee table last week: http://sophistikatedhome.blogspot.com/2010/06/green-box.html . When I saw the title of your post I was hoping for a nice tutorial to help me out, but instead I got something much better – a big smile and a reality check.
I am with you on this one. I keep my coffee table free of anything. I will put something pretty on it, like an abundant urn of flowers when I have a party but not all the time. With three sons and plenty of feet to prop up on it as they rest on the couch there simply isn’t room. We play games on it, swap baseball cards, search magazines, I blog from it, cut coupons from it… real life revolves around it even more than our kitchen tables at times! After all it lives in our FAMILY ROOM:)
Woo hoo! I’m liking this idea. I’m always stressing over whether the seasonal “something” I have on the coffee table looks like I wish it did. . . and then it’ll get covered with books or magazines and I stress about how messy it is. So how about NOTHING?? I think I could do that! Thanks for the inspiration!
We put our coffee table away… to make more room to play with our dog Daisy =)
we have never had a coffee table. first it was i didn’t want babies getting hurt, then it was i didn’t want to clean it off when everyone put everything on it but it would be useful i am just not use to seeing it that way now.
i love your decorations but i also feel like your home should be comfortable and useful for a family!
I, too, have come to the conclusion that my coffee table is lovely with nothing on it. After moving the red bowl of pears that sat on the table, and replacing it with the Thomas train tracks, every time my grandsons came to visit, I left it empty one day and it’s just fine. We’ve always used it for snacks, propping up feet, whatever, and bare is so much better :-)
You know what? We’ve never had a coffee table. I think it’s probably because I didn’t grow up with one. Also, the place in front of our sofa has always been a necessary pathway. Can you believe that? In four houses and one duplex, I haven’t had a space that was suited for a coffee table.
I like yours, though. And I like the idea of keeping it empty. I think it invites people to actually use it when they’re there. Something about fancy things on a coffee table makes me hesitant to put my feet up on it.
I too have NOTHING on my coffee table! I have been without a coffee table for years – just never found one I liked. I finally found one last month (Craigslist for a steal!) – and we are enjoying having one. The girls play board games on it, color in their coloring books, we put our snacks there – and we clean it off at night. I’ve always dreamed of a living room that we LIVE in – my children actually using the room for the things they do – and that’s what we have now. The used coffee table is scratched and dinged on top – and it doesn’t bother me. It goes along with the lived-in look we are enjoying.
I think if I decorated it with stuff – they would just be in our way!
You’re a nesting guru.
I decided a short time back that to enhance peace in our home, we needed a few peaceful visual landscapes – areas we can gaze at and not be told what to look at – just let each family member fill it up with whatever they want, need, or are using at the moment.
In our house, it’s the kitchen table. I spent a decade trying various centerpieces and moving them off a dozen times a day before setting the table for each meal, craft project, homework, game board, etc. Then one day recently gave up and took the darn thing off the table. It’s now empty and beautiful :)
Bible, notebook, lunch. I love having an empty table.
Great post!!!
My coffee table is a large leather ottoman (Ballard Designs) that I wanted to lighten up for the summer. So, I made a matelasse slipcover. Now my dog thinks its another bed for her…..so…..my DOG is on my coffee table :-)
(First time commenter….long time stalker :-)
We gave our coffee table away to some missionaries the last time we lived here in Kyiv. It seemed to collect junk and was always in the way of where the baby wanted to go…and it was ugly! Now, I’m wondering if it isn’t going to be time for another.
What a fun post. I think this is something we can all relate to. I saved your second image to my computer so I can refer to it later. I liked it that well. :) Love your blog. Thanks for sharing.
Pam
Zip. Zero. Zilch!
P.S. My husband (endearingly) calls me “wifey” (he’s “hubster”), so it made me laugh to see that you used a variation of said term.
Nothing! Our coffee tables have always been bare – end tables too except for a lamp on each, and maybe a pretty set of coasters. The accessories have free regin over the rest of the house.
Started bare early when we had toddlers and just did not make sense to put anything on them – except feet, snacks, art supplies, or games.
And my husband sits on them to watch basketball. Closer to the action.
Forgot, my 55 pound bulldog. She lays on the bottom shelf of our coffee table and watches tv.
I need to see a picture of this!
I am so blessed that I have actually been able to put my feet up on your coffee table!
We have one empty coffee table and one with a tray with a rotating bunch of pretty nothing that can easily be picked up and moved when we need it for another purpose.
Our coffee table is also cleared off on top. It’s a high end coffee table that we found at Home Goods a couple of years ago. It’s rectangular, distressed white and chunky (being chunky is only good if one is a piece of furniture or an accessory).
Luckily, it has a glass top with a shelf underneath. I keep a small stack of magazines there, my favorite starfish and a long wooden bowl for the remotes. Under the shelf are 3 drawers for dvds and wii games.
So, I can do a little displaying and still have the surface left for laptops, food, feet, etc.
I love it! My coffee table is standardly empty… and currently pushed out of the way to allow a giant train track to take up it’s floor space. I love the staged coffee tables — but I was beginning to wonder what was wrong in our house that I caould never pull that off! My grandparents had an old coffee table at their beach house that had a piece of glass over it. Under the glass was a collection of family photos that were just stuck under there over the years. To this day, I love looking at the old photos of my sisters and cousins and I as kids, a random picture of my dear grandfather mowing the grass out front, and photos of my mom and aunt dressed up for my uncle’s wedding. That is my all-time favorite coffee table decoration!!
:-) L
I TOTALLY understand the flat surface decorating thing. I just acquired a new to me piece of furniture that I need to redo and my husband asked why did I want a piece of furniture in that spot when I didn’t have one before and I responded…. to decorate!!! I have an oversized coffee table too and it gets a hard workout, it’s never empty but rarely decorated. I say go for freedom!!!
I’m with you on keeping the coffee table clear. I especially love that it gives the eye a place to rest, which adds a sense of peace to the room.
Amy
I too am a member of the NOTHING on the coffee table club. Of course, what that really means is that it’s covered with whatever toys, books, etc. my girlies are currently using.
empty too. exact same reasons.
This is so me! I want it to look beautiful but then there’s no room for a Monopoly marathon or laundry.
Cute pictures!
We always have books all over our coffee table….magazines, school books, library books….then we clear it off to play games.
I don’t have a coffee table. I have a very small livingroom. I am wanting to get an ottomon with storage inside or getting an old suitcase and putting rollers on the bottom.