The key to great style is often all about layering. Be it your outfit of the day or dressing up the house, considered layers all add up to the greater bigger picture.
It’s the secret to a great-looking coffee table; you know, the ones you’ve been seeing all over your newsfeed. Because if you thought a coffee table was solely for resting hot beverages upon, think again.
Serving as a vehicle to display your most stylish and interesting homewares, consider the surface of a coffee table a vertical frame. Here’s where you can artfully arrange seasonal blooms so they look stunning from all angles (not just up against a wall). To add height, try stacks of coffee table books and glossy magazines that speak to your hobbies and interests, topped with veneered trays that serve as the setting for a water carafe or scented candle.
It’s not just a matter of plonking stuff on a table. Coffee table styling is the ultimate in domestic showboatery, and one that you can play with and switch around as the mood takes you.
If you’re unsure where to start or how to create that interiors magazine-style harmony, stick to the rule of three. This is a golden ratio that’s used in almost all aspects of design.
Three kinds of items will add colour, depth and variety, especially when layered. Mix interesting materials like marble, wooden inlay and glass to help you create an attractive visual arrangement. And adding organic forms like faux flowers or small houseplants can also up the ante.
All this said, there shouldn’t be so much stuff that you’re unable to use the coffee table for its primary function. That would be outrageous.
If you’re on the hunt for new pieces to update your coffee table look - or you are, in fact, starting from scratch with the coffee table itself - we’ve put together an inspired edit to help.
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Coffee tables
Soho Home Oxley Coffee Table, Arabescato Corchia Marble
A real showstopper of an investment piece, this elegant table will instantly elevate the whole room - even if you’ve got a flatpack in the corner. The high contrast dark veining and spherical legs give the piece a sculpted feel, making it appear more like fine art than a place to set down a cuppa.
Buy now £4795.00, Soho Home
MADE Dunston Coffee Nest
Nesting tables are perfect for all kinds of living rooms since they can tuck into each other to save space when needed. MADE’s glass-topped ones kick start the layering element with their mid-century-appropriate amber hue. Top with your favourite magazines and fragrance votives. Separate or stack them to fit your lounge’s configuration best.
Buy now £399.00, John Lewis
John Lewis Grayson Storage Coffee Table, Oak
Available in dark wood and oak, this handsome coffee table is ideal for large, chaotic family homes with half-hidden storage to hide practical items (think the TV remote, consoles and post). This means the surface is clear to display choice knick-knacks and curios.
Buy now £349.00, John Lewis
Coffee table books
Wally Koval Accidentally Wes Anderson
From the Instagram account of the same name comes this playful coffee table tome celebrating real-life locales that could have come off a Wes Anderson movie set. Featuring silliness, the unexpected and pastel pop colours, it’s a drop of whimsy that can easily hold its own against the TV set.
Buy now £24.93, Amazon
Taschen London. Portrait of a City
Would an Evening Standard coffee table round-up be complete without a book about London? We didn’t think so, either.
A ode to our capital city, from Victorian London to the Swinging 60s, expect iconic photographs by the likes of Slim Aarons, Eve Arnold, David Bailey and Linda McCartney.
Buy now £50.00, Amazon
The Life Eclectic: Brilliantly Unique Interior Designs from Around the World by Alexander Breeze
A collection of 15 eclectic spaces from across the globe, Alexander Breeze meticulously compiles some of the most inspiring homes from the UK, US, Australia, France, and Denmark to teach us a much-needed lesson about how natural-born creatives and experts within their fields decorate their own homes. Pick up this beautiful collection to learn about mismatching furniture and knick-knacks in all the right ways.
Buy now £33.00, Waterstones
Candles, diffusers and incense
Diptyque Extra Large Figuier Candle, 1.5kg
Sage green is huge in the interior space right now. Not only will this extra-large candle from luxury fragrance house Diptyque ignite the senses, but it’ll also spice up your living space. Equipped with five wicks to ensure even scent distribution, this fresh, fig-tree-inspired candle is housed in a beautiful earthware container that can be reused when (or if) they’re able to burn the entire candle.
Buy now £285.00, Diptyque
Jo Malone charity candles for mental health causes
Fragrance house Jo Malone is marking a decade of supporting mental health initiatives with the launch of a new foundation: Shining A Light On Mental Health Foundation. Through this, the brand, best known for its heavenly range of colognes, bath and body products, and candles, will support various programmes and charities that focus on mental health.
As well as a $2m global donation, Jo Malone has released a Charity Home Candle in scents like Elderflower & Gooseberry, Lily Of The Valley & Ivy, Peony & Moss, Iris & Lady Moore, and White Lilac & Rhubarb.
Priced £55 each, 75 per cent of the RRP will go to the Shining A Light On Mental Health Foundation to continue their good work.
Buy now £56.00, Jo Malone
Astier de Villatte Serena Incense Holder
Expertly hand-crafted by Tibetan crafstman using black terracotta clay through taditional Roman methods, we adore the sculptural beauty of this piece. It almost looks as though someone has removed the hand from one of Michaelangelo’s statues and delicately placed an incence stick between its fingers.
Buy now £285.00, Abask
Bella Freud Ciao Diffuser
Pop this on your entrance or coffee table for an instant hit of cool. The ceramic pot and its handpainted ‘Ciao’ doodle is the perfect balance of chic and playful - I recently moved house and it was the first thing I unpacked.
So it looks sexy, but what about the scent? The fragrance is made for breezy summer evenings (or at least to conjure up memories of them). Warm fig leaf, sweet orange blossom and vetiver dance together to create a light yet masculine blend.
In Bella’s own words: “Ciao floats down the breeze as a Motorino buzzes past, the sun hits the leaves of a fig tree. The seductive smell of a stranger’s eau de cologne mingles with a morning expresso, and thoughts of the night before make for a beating heart”. Order the refills on repeat.
Buy now £155.00, Bella Freud
Ortigia Fico d’India Perfume Diffuser
Bring the scent of Sicily into your home with Ortigia and its transportive capabilities. The Fico d’India is one of the brand’s most beloved aromas that combine fig and cedar to give you the feeling that you’re walking through a sun-soaked orchard, even if you are in fact in rainy Britain. The luxurious diffuser has great lasting power and an attractive glass case with a leopard illustration.
Buy now £55.00, Liberty
Trays and platters
Soho Home Balfern wooden serving board
Make like the members’ club and serve your VIPs in style with a 32cm platter by Soho Home. The arty piece is crafted from 100 per cent wood. But not just any wood: this is fossilised timber from Indonesia, believed to be around 20 million years old (which rather explains the price). We'd keep this for a really special party when no stops are left unpulled.
Buy now £190.00, Soho Home
Addison Ross burgundy striped large lacquered ottoman tray
Addison Ross's striped and lacquered tray makes a stylish piece of homeware in any room. It’s available in a selection of shades, but this burgundy leans into the ‘unexpected red’ theory we’ve been loving so much. The base is covered in velvet to ensure no surfaces suffer accidental scratching.
Buy now £196.00, Addison Ross
Habitat Ribbed Acacia Wood Tray
Capitalising on the scallop trend, this hardwearing Habitat tray has been crafted from acacia wood. It can serve as a proper tray, helping to ferry snacks to and from the kitchen, or be used as a layer to frame candles and books on your table.
Sold with a one-year manufacturer's guarantee.
Buy now £20.00, Argos
Oliver Bonas Rayos Striped Resin Bar Tray
More of a maximalist kind of person? Trigger a dopamine hit with Oliver Bonas's frankly fabulous tray made from bright stripes of coloured resin. The round design is finished with a pair of gold handles for easy cocktail distribution.
Buy now £90.00, Oliver Bonas
Curios
Jonathan Adler Seahorse Magnifying Glass
If you're looking for a magnifying glass with a little more pizzaz, look no further than Jonathan Adler. The celebrated interiors guru is a master of quirky homewares, with this seahorse-themed design case in point. Made from gold-coloured brass, it makes a playful curio for your desk or dressing table.
Buy now £67.68, Tobias Oliver Interiors
EGOBASIC Cordless Table Lamp with Remote
Enjoy the freedom of wireless lighting with this handy rechargeable lamp. It comes with a timer and can switch through a dozen colours, helping to create whatever vibe you're after.
Buy now £39.98, Amazon
Lucie de Moyencourt Pitcher
Hydration is important. Stay quenched without giving up your spot on the sofa by adding this unusual pitcher to your coffee table set-up.
Buy now £42.00, Anthropologie
M&S X Kelly Hoppen Scallop Edge Ceramic Bouquet Vase
A good vase acts as an anchor to coffee tables. This round scalloped design is from interior designer Kelly Hoppen's collab with M&S and will look just as nice with faux or fresh flowers as it will without.
Buy now £19.50, M&S
