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HOW TO DECORATE A COFFEE TABLE - 4 Easy Coffee Table Styling Formulas
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May 1, 2025
Want to know how to style your coffee table like a pro? In this video, I’ll show you simple tips and tricks for decorating a coffee table that looks polished, inviting, and totally Pinterest-worthy. Whether your style is modern, cozy, or somewhere in between, you’ll learn how to mix decor pieces, layer textures, and create a balanced look that works for everyday living or entertaining guests. | CHAPTERS | 00:00 Intro 00:37 Tray Vignette 03:12 The Trio 05:23 The Centerpiece 08:46 The Collage 12:45 Outro ✨| FREE DOWNLOAD |✨ The Big List - 101 Places To Shop Home Decor Online https://diannedecor.com/the-big-list 🔔 Don't forget to LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for more home decor tips and ideas every week! | MY WEBSITE | https://diannedecor.com | SOCIAL MEDIA |
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0:02
hi it's Lindsay Diane from
0:04
diancor.com In this video we're going to
0:06
talk all about coffee table decorating
0:09
I'm going to share with you four of the
0:11
most popular coffee table decorating
0:13
formulas as well as pair the coffee
0:17
table styles and shapes with the best
0:21
decorating formula I'm also going to
0:24
talk about which ones are great for if
0:26
you have hightra family areas versus
0:29
lowtra formal sitting rooms So let's get
0:33
started with the first coffee table
0:36
decorating
0:37
formula Number one is the tray vignette
0:40
Now with this coffee table decorating
0:43
formula you're going to use a tray and
0:47
an assortment of items clustered
0:49
together to create a vignette on top of
0:52
that tray That tray is then going to be
0:54
placed on your coffee table Now for this
0:57
particular style you it really does not
1:00
matter what shape your coffee table is
1:03
In fact it's particularly good if you
1:05
have a soft top coffee table So one that
1:08
is like an ottoman and a coffee table
1:10
combined or a storage ottoman coffee
1:13
table combo that does not have a hard
1:16
top A tray vignette is perfect for that
1:19
because it gives you a level stable
1:22
space on which to decorate So on your
1:24
tray you may have an assortment of items
1:27
You could have a trio of items or you
1:29
know a cluster of five items Usually you
1:32
want these of varied height So you may
1:34
have something that's tall like a vase
1:37
or a potted plant with some flowers or
1:40
something like that And then you may
1:42
have like a stack of books or a candle
1:44
You could have other decorative
1:46
sculptures You can have um just a
1:49
variety of different things The sky is
1:52
sort of the limit when it comes to the
1:54
tray vignette The key here is that they
1:57
are all sort of organized on the tray
2:00
and the tray is then easily picked up
2:03
and moved when you need that coffee
2:05
table space or want to use it as a foot
2:08
stool in the case of the storage
2:11
ottoman So if you have a hightraic
2:15
family area the tray is an excellent
2:19
option with the vignette And of course
2:21
it's easy when you keep it simple with
2:24
you know three items or so It's easy to
2:26
swap those out seasonally if you want to
2:29
update the look of your coffee table And
2:32
if you have a space where maybe you want
2:35
to have snacks in a movie night and you
2:37
need a place to actually put your bowls
2:40
and things like that and plates or cups
2:43
you have it You can easily move that
2:45
tray out of the way with all the decor
2:48
on top and have a versatile space It's
2:51
also great if you want to do uh like a
2:53
family game night You can put puzzles
2:55
there You can set your laptop there This
2:57
is the best solution if you need a space
3:00
that can be cleared away quickly or you
3:02
have lots of family members and lots of
3:04
people that are going to be sort of
3:06
vying for space on that coffee table to
3:08
set their items while they're enjoying
3:10
that space Next up is the trio cluster
3:14
Now this is a cluster of three elements
3:17
together on a coffee table There's no
3:19
tray involved but generally this trio is
3:24
following the right angle guidelines So
3:28
this is where you have a sort of
3:31
invisible right triangle and you have
3:33
one highend and it tears down and comes
3:37
across So on your high end odds are you
3:40
have like a vase with some florals
3:42
that's got some good height or you may
3:44
have a figurine on top of a stack of
3:46
books that has some height to it And
3:48
then you tear down from there You have
3:50
maybe some smaller elements Then you may
3:52
have like a decorative bowl or a
3:54
decorative box or something like that
3:57
This is a really great and easy way to
4:00
decorate your coffee table It's not a
4:03
lot of hassle If you had to move those
4:05
things out of the way you could do so
4:07
relatively easily It's not as easy as
4:09
having the tray and being able to just
4:11
kind of pick it up and move it But it's
4:13
still not anything complicated It's not
4:15
like you have to disassemble this you
4:17
know massive display and have to figure
4:19
out how to reassemble it again It's
4:21
relatively simple and it's easy to do
4:24
This is the probably one of the most
4:26
common ways to decorate your coffee
4:29
table is just have a cluster of three
4:31
smaller things together Now with the
4:35
cluster this is good if you also have a
4:38
higher traffic area It will leave lots
4:41
of space on your coffee table so that
4:43
you don't necessarily have to move these
4:45
items off You can still set your
4:47
magazine or your book or your morning
4:49
coffee or your laptop or your Kindle or
4:52
whatever it is You still have space to
4:54
set that down on the coffee table while
4:56
those decorative elements are there So
4:58
it makes it just an an easy functional
5:01
way for everyone to be able to enjoy
5:04
that space and still have a little bit
5:05
of decoration and focal
5:07
point Again this is great for sitting
5:11
rooms and family rooms alike The Trio is
5:14
also great for any shaped coffee table
5:17
Whether you have a round oval square or
5:19
rectangular coffee table the Trio will
5:22
work for you Next up is the centerpiece
5:26
Now if you like a more minimalist look
5:29
to your decor the centerpiece is the
5:32
option that you want to go for for your
5:33
coffee
5:34
table With the centerpiece you want a
5:37
much larger item You want something that
5:41
is really going to be a statement piece
5:43
because it's going to stand alone on
5:45
your coffee table Things that are great
5:47
for the centerpiece formula are going to
5:50
be large decorative bowls
5:54
sculptures or uh you know geodess or
5:58
even a really pretty piece of like
6:00
salvaged
6:01
driftwood Any of those dough bowl
6:04
troughs that may have some decorative
6:07
florals or succulents in them or moss in
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them Just think of one singular piece
6:13
Sometimes you have um candle holders
6:15
that come in a row but they're all sort
6:17
of attached as one sort of candalabra
6:19
type piece Those are all great options
6:22
if you want to use the centerpiece
6:24
formula The centerpiece formula is also
6:27
really great if you have a two-tiered
6:29
coffee table because you're have that
6:31
nice decorative piece on top but you
6:34
also have some space below that's a
6:36
little bit more functional and you can
6:38
store like a basket with some books or a
6:41
basket that maybe has some uh remote
6:44
controls or a decorative box or
6:46
something like that that is has more
6:48
functional pieces It may have your
6:51
coasters and things like that that you
6:53
may use in a family room down below
6:56
While up top you just have that one
6:59
really bold decorative piece In addition
7:01
to the two-tiered coffee table being a
7:04
great fit for the centerpiece formula a
7:06
round coffee table is also a great fit
7:09
for the centerpiece formula because it
7:11
can be centered right smack dab in the
7:14
middle and create a lot of sort of
7:15
harmony and symmetry in that space The
7:18
centerpiece works for an active family
7:21
room just as well as it works for a
7:24
lowra sitting room You will have again
7:27
like the uh the previous example with
7:29
the trio you will have lots of open
7:32
coffee table space to utilize and you
7:35
won't have to worry about necessarily
7:37
removing this decor and able in order to
7:40
you know use it for another function So
7:43
you can jot notes you can uh you know
7:45
type on your laptop you can do all of
7:47
these things right alongside that
7:49
decorative piece because you'll have
7:51
plenty of space there Now generally as a
7:53
rule of thumb when you're trying to
7:55
figure out how big your centerpiece or
7:57
statement piece item should be on this
7:59
coffee table think that at its widest it
8:03
should take up about a third of the
8:04
coffee table So it doesn't have to be at
8:06
its base So let's say you have a large
8:09
uh beautiful vase um you're going to
8:12
count that you know that third at its
8:16
widest So where your branches or where
8:19
your florals fan out that should take up
8:21
about a third of the width of your
8:23
coffee table Now it doesn't necessarily
8:26
have to follow any particular um rule as
8:30
far as the height is concerned Of course
8:32
you want to be able to see it but you
8:33
also don't want something so high that
8:35
people have to duck around and look
8:37
around that centerpiece item So you want
8:39
something of a decent height but it can
8:41
also be low and sort of expansive as
8:44
well and work beautifully Last but not
8:47
least is the collage Now this is
8:50
something that has been gaining
8:51
popularity in the last couple of years
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and I won't say it's a freefor-all but
8:58
it's essentially where you are creating
9:01
a focal point in your room with your
9:04
coffee table This is a highly ornate
9:07
style It's more of a maximalist sort of
9:09
style You're going to have lots and lots
9:12
of decorative elements when you're using
9:14
this sort of collage formula Generally
9:17
speaking this is most commonly used on a
9:21
square or rectangular coffee table And
9:24
you're going to break it up into
9:25
quadrants So if you had a square coffee
9:28
table just think of an invisible sort of
9:31
uh line going straight down the middle
9:33
and straight across and you have your
9:36
four quadrants You're going to focus
9:39
your decorative items in each of these
9:41
four quadrants and make sure you have
9:43
things filled out Now you can go simple
9:45
and have four big elements in each of
9:48
the quadrants or you could even go sort
9:50
of maximalist and do like a trio of
9:53
items in each one of those four
9:54
quadrants But you just want to make sure
9:57
that you have some sort of invisible
9:58
aisles going down there as a resting
10:01
space for your eye so that it doesn't
10:03
just look like you've thrown a bunch of
10:04
stuff onto your coffee table Instead it
10:07
makes it look very intentional with its
10:10
design when you have these sort of
10:12
quadrants kind of lined out there Now
10:17
this decorating style in my opinion is
10:20
no good for an active living room This
10:23
is something where you know
10:25
disassembling it or making room for even
10:28
a small little bowl of snacks or a
10:31
coffee cup is going to be a lot It's
10:34
going to be a hassle Never mind If you
10:37
have lots of elements that are just
10:40
positioned just so it's going to be hard
10:43
to put them back in that place and it's
10:44
going to be a hassle So it almost makes
10:47
your coffee table just not a functional
10:50
item anymore And that's okay if you can
10:53
balance it out with some side tables
10:56
that are functional or you have an open
10:58
floor plan where you have you know a a
11:00
huge dining table just beyond your sofa
11:03
or just over you know behind the chairs
11:07
and you can sit there and do your work
11:09
and do your snacks and all of that stuff
11:11
and still see into the living room still
11:14
participate in the conversation still
11:16
see a television then that would work
11:18
out just fine But if you have a space
11:21
where you know you've got kids that are
11:22
playing around you know you like to do
11:24
game night and do all these things in
11:25
the living room this collage formula is
11:28
not going to work It's taking up almost
11:30
all of your coffee table space You're
11:33
going to have to disassemble it and
11:35
reassemble it every time you want to
11:37
make use of that horizontal space So
11:41
it's best for either a formal sitting
11:45
area or a lowra room or if you really
11:48
need to create a decorative focal point
11:51
So if for some reason you know you don't
11:54
have an a piece of artwork that you can
11:55
hang on the walls or you don't have a
11:57
beautiful bay window to frame or
11:58
something like that So if you had
12:01
something like a shotgun style house or
12:03
you have an open floor plan and you are
12:07
sort of missing uh walls where you can
12:10
really add a focal point you may need to
12:14
create that decorative focal point with
12:16
your coffee table And so this would be
12:18
the formula that you would use to do
12:19
that Think about breaking that coffee
12:22
table down into quadrants and having
12:24
some beautiful decorative elements Make
12:26
sure that you have them varying in
12:28
height um and have a nice cohesive look
12:31
either by matching your metals matching
12:33
your colors having a little bit of a
12:35
color palette that matches the other
12:37
things that are going on in your living
12:38
room and you'll have a really really
12:41
beautiful scene to look at every time
12:43
you sit down in your living room or your
12:44
sitting room So that's it for this video
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I hope you found it helpful Make sure
12:49
that when you are decorating your coffee
12:51
table you're considering you know the
12:53
size and the shape of your coffee table
12:55
as well as you know the function of your
12:58
room What do you like to do in that
12:59
space do you need space to be able to
13:01
set down your morning coffee and muffin
13:04
do you need space to work on your laptop
13:06
or do you just want a really beautiful
13:08
showpiece so depending upon your needs
13:11
and your wants for your family and your
13:12
space you can choose one of these four
13:15
formulas and it will work out
13:17
beautifully It kind of takes the
13:18
guesswork out of decorating your coffee
13:20
table And remember there's lots of
13:22
things to decorate with You could
13:24
decorate with candles and candle holders
13:26
and figurines and coffee table books and
13:31
you know dough bowls and vases and
13:34
potted plants The sky's is really the
13:37
limit Just make sure that you have some
13:39
nice coordinating items something that
13:42
goes with the color palette that's
13:43
happening in your home something that
13:44
has some varied height and texture to
13:47
give it a little bit of interest And you
13:49
really can't go wrong with any of these
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four formulas Don't forget to visit me
13:54
at dandor.com I post all about home
13:56
decorating ideas and inspiration over
13:58
there I thank you so much for watching
14:01
and I'll see you in the next one Bye
14:07
[Music]
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