5 Tips For Staging Your Coffee Table

The coffee table is typically central to a living room's design — it can even sometimes act as the focal point. This is why, when staging a home, it's important to create the perfect vignette or intentional arrangement of decorative items on this surface.

Before you begin staging your coffee table, it's crucial to understand the difference between styling and staging. According to Singapore Furniture Rental, these terms have two distinct goals. When styling, you should aim to make your space more personal so you can fully enjoy your home. When staging, on the other hand, the objective should be to appeal to the broadest group of people so that you can sell your home faster. Therefore, when staging your coffee table, you should use neutral pieces that aren't too personal to you and your specific tastes. If you need help staging your coffee table, below are tips you should follow. 

To make your space appear as cohesive as possible, you'll want to match your coffee table's design with the rest of your home. Heart & Home Staging says that your home's style is the first thing you should consider when staging. Similarly, Designing Idea says it's the best way to create a coordinated appearance.

To do this, you'll first need to determine the style of the home. Once this is done, you can start choosing pieces. Lazy Loft outlines some of the most popular interior design styles and items you could choose from. If your home is industrial, bring in distressed wood, metal elements, and cool-toned pieces. For the nautical space, use driftwood and pops of blue. Bohemian homes should utilize warm colors, lots of texture, and woven elements. If your house appears farmhouse, use neutral colors, metal accents (perhaps a bird cage), and some greenery. Modern spaces use clean lines and straight edges, and books are always a good idea.

Next, to create interest, you'll need to make sure all your pieces aren't the same height or size, as this can appear dull or flat. The Home Staging Institute says that dimensions are created using items of varying heights. If most elements you choose appear the same, you could use stacking to your advantage. For instance, you could place a bowl on top of a stack of three books.

Chicagoland Home Staging adds that none of the pieces should exceed the overall height of the sofa; therefore, make sure that your items aren't too tall. Further, keep the size of your coffee table in mind; the elements you choose shouldn't look too small or too large for the furniture piece. And make sure that none of your items block the view of the television or window when sitting on the couch, as this will defeat the purpose of the design.

When creating a coffee table vignette, build a dynamic appearance by including lots of different textures. The Home Staging Institute says that varying textures is extremely important to creating a look that doesn't bore the viewer. To do this, you should use contrasting materials — for instance, you could pair a woven piece with a glossy vase. 

However, you also don't want your textured pieces to feel out of place. To ground them on the surface, you could use a tray, per Chicagoland Home Staging. This will add texture and an attractive shape to your table while making smaller décor items appear more intentional. Conversely, The Faithful Decorator recommends choosing a tiered stand, which would allow you to use lots of different pieces at varying heights. Additionally, they say that texture will assist you in creating a coffee table design that doesn't look too full or empty.

However, your display may appear dead or uninteresting even after adding texture. A great way to infuse life into your living room is by including a flower bouquet or a potted plant. Designing Idea says flowers are a great way to add a pop of color to a neutral space. If your setup is monochromatic or made up of mostly neutral tones, adding some fresh flowers could energize your vignette. And choosing flowers that match the accent color in the room will create a harmonious design.

However, if you need plants to last long, they don't have to be alive. Chicagoland Home Staging points out that they could be made from silk or plastic. Or, you could choose something other than an actual plant, such as a piece of driftwood. This will still bring in an organic and natural feeling without drawing too much attention.

Finally, once you've chosen the pieces for your coffee table's design, it's essential to consider how the space makes you feel. If you have used too many pieces,  your living room may feel disorganized or chaotic. Because of this, Heart & Home Staging says that limiting your selections is extremely important. They say to use three or five items and keep the style pretty simple. They also point out that using personal items is never a good idea for two reasons. First, when staging a home, you don't want to infuse too much of your style, and second, the items could quickly get damaged or broken if left out on the table.

Designing Idea emphasizes the importance of keeping your space clutter-free, as a chaotic space could turn people away from your home. They also say to make sure that every design choice looks intentional. Further, they suggest choosing a minimalist design, providing you with the cleanest look.