A coffee table is the hardest surface in a room to get right. It sits at eye level when you are sitting down, it is the first thing a guest looks at, and it collects everything: remotes, mugs, post, keys, a half-read book. Most styling advice stops at a stack of books and something tall. This is the longer answer, built around the one object that does more work on a coffee table than any other: a decorative bowl.
Why a bowl earns its place
A decorative bowl is doing three jobs at once, which is why it is worth the space it takes.
- It holds things. A coffee table without a container fills up with loose objects. A bowl gives the clutter somewhere to live, and the table reads as tidy even when it is not empty.
- It brings a curve. Most of a living room is straight lines: the table edge, the sofa, the rug, the shelf. A round, open shape is the easiest way to soften all of that.
- It groups. Five small objects on a table look like mess. The same five objects inside one bowl look like a single, deliberate thing.
Get the scale right before anything else
Scale is where most coffee tables go wrong, and it is the one decision you cannot fix with styling. A bowl that is too small disappears into the surface; one that is too large leaves nowhere to put a cup down.
A useful starting point: the arrangement in the middle of your table (bowl, books, whatever else) should take up somewhere around a third of the surface, leaving a clear third on either side for real life. Before you buy anything, measure the table, then mark out that third with a tea towel or a sheet of paper and look at it from the sofa. It is a two-minute test that saves a return.
It helps to have one real size to measure against. The large bowl in our natural mud set of two (£79) is about 14 cm tall and 28 cm wide; it is made by hand, so the size varies slightly. If you are unsure whether a particular piece suits your table, ask us before you buy. We would far rather answer a question than take something back.
How to dress a coffee table in three heights
The reliable formula for a coffee table is three objects at three different heights, sitting close enough together to read as one arrangement.
- Low and wide. Two or three hardback books, stacked largest at the bottom. This is your plinth. No books to hand? A low wooden box does the same job.
- The bowl. Either on the books, which lifts it and makes it the focal point, or beside them on the table.
- Something tall and thin. A slim vase of dried stems, or a tall wooden or ceramic object. This breaks the horizontal line and stops the group looking squat.
Keep the three within a hand's width of one another. Objects spread evenly across a table look like they were placed by a rule; objects clustered look like they were placed by a person.
How to decorate a round coffee table
A round table has no long axis to play with, so centre the arrangement and keep it compact. Anything pushed towards the edge looks as if it is about to fall off. One bowl, one low stack, one tall object, all within the middle third. A round bowl on a round table repeats the shape, which looks calm; for a little more contrast, sit the bowl on a square stack of books.
Rectangular and oval tables
Here, do the opposite: run the arrangement along the long axis and sit it slightly off-centre rather than dead middle. Strict symmetry on a big rectangle reads as a hotel lobby. A tray underneath helps: it draws a boundary and stops the group drifting apart every time someone reaches for a remote.
Small tables
On a small table, drop to two objects. A bowl and a stack of books is a complete arrangement. Adding a third to a table that cannot take it is the most common reason a coffee table feels busy.
Texture is what makes it look considered
Rooms that photograph well almost always mix surfaces rather than colours. If your table is glass or high-gloss, a matt, textured bowl gives the eye somewhere to rest. If your table is a heavy grained oak, something smoother and paler lifts it.
Our paper mâché bowls are useful here for a straightforward reason: they are painted by hand, with a matt, textured finish, so next to glass or gloss they read as soft rather than reflective. They are also light to lift, which matters more than it sounds: a bowl that is easy to move is a bowl you will actually move to wipe the table underneath. Dust the bowl itself with a dry cloth, never a damp one; how to look after paper mâché covers the rest.
What to put in a decorative bowl on a coffee table
Keep the contents to one category. A bowl of nothing but dried seed heads looks intentional; a bowl holding two conkers, a hair tie and an AA battery does not. Whole fruit, pine cones, dried lavender or a bowl full of potpourri: one thing, in quantity.
Fill to just below the rim, not level with it. You want to see the inside curve of the bowl; that curve is half of what you paid for.
Keys are the one thing worth moving off the coffee table altogether: a key bowl by the front door gives them a home of their own. For everything else, we have written a longer piece on what to put in a decorative bowl, room by room, including the things that seem obvious and are not.
Coffee table decor for Christmas
The method does not change in December; only the contents do. Keep the three heights and the clear two thirds, which earn their space when the table has to take glasses, a plate of mince pies and the TV guide.
- Change what is in the bowl. Baubles, pine cones or whole clementines, one kind at a time, filled to just below the rim. On a table that gets leaned over all evening, pine cones and baubles cope best.
- Change the tall object. A slim vase of dried eucalyptus or a few stems of artificial fir gives the height without bringing anything wet near the paper.
- Keep the books. The stack still does the plinth's job. A favourite Christmas book on top is as seasonal as it needs to get.
A few of our handmade Christmas decorations laid in the bowl look chosen rather than left over. They are decorations, not toys, so keep them out of reach of small children and pets; if the coffee table is within their reach, put the bowl of decorations on a sideboard instead.
Leave candles and tealights off any table that holds a paper bowl, and keep the bowl well back from an open fire or a wood burner. The London Fire Brigade's advice on candles is to keep them away from anything that can catch fire, paper included, and to keep all decorations away from naked flames.
For more fillers, see what to put in a decorative bowl for Christmas. If the bowl moves to the dining table for the day, the rules for a Christmas centrepiece are slightly different: wide and low rather than tall, below eye level for anyone sitting down, with a clear band either side for plates and glasses.
Five mistakes worth avoiding
- Everything the same height. A flat arrangement has no focal point. If you only change one thing, add height.
- Spacing objects evenly. Cluster instead. Uneven gaps look natural; equal gaps look like a shop display.
- Filling the whole surface. Empty table is not wasted table. It is where the mugs go.
- Matching the bowl to the table. A pale bowl on a pale table vanishes. Contrast in tone or texture, or both.
- Styling it once and never touching it. The arrangement should survive being moved. If putting a tray of tea down means dismantling it, it is too fussy.
A worked example
A rectangular oak coffee table in a room with a grey sofa. Slightly left of centre: two large hardbacks, spines facing out, largest underneath. On top of them, a wide matt bowl holding dried hydrangea heads, filled to just under the rim. To the right of the books and touching them, a slim stoneware vase with three stems of dried grass. Everything else (remotes, coasters) lives in a small lidded box on the shelf below.
Three objects, three heights, one cluster, two thirds of the table left clear. That is the whole method, and it works on almost any table you own, including a console table in the hall.
Before you buy
Our paper mâché bowls are made by hand in Jaipur from recycled paper and painted by hand, so each one varies slightly: the rim runs a fraction wider on one, the brush leaves a different mark on another. They are for dry use: they will hold whole fruit, potpourri, keys or post, but they are not waterproof and never go in a dishwasher. A decorative bowl also makes a simple housewarming gift, because almost every home has a table that needs one. You can read more about Aala India, or browse the paper mâché bowls.
