If you were under the impression that the coffee table is just that, a purely functional place to rest a cup of coffee, we have some bad news for you. These days, the coffee table is one of the most demonstrative pieces of furniture in your house. At its core, the design – whether it's metal with sharp edges or a soft, comfortable ottoman – says a lot about the aesthetic that you subscribe to. And then there are the things you put on top. Since the coffee table often sits in the centre of a room which plays host to pre-dinner cocktails or post-dinner coffee, these items offer insight into their owners’ interests, taste and memories. If the thought of engineering the perfect coffee table tableau baffles you, fear not. We turn to some seasoned professionals for their must-haves, and just as importantly, their must-not-haves.
First, get the right coffee table for you (and it might not even be a coffee table)
Before even broaching the subject of what to put in or on your coffee table, you'll need to get the right one for your interior. A sharp-edged, rectangular, metal one may be perfect if you are partial to a clean, industrial aesthetic, but the interior designer Nina Campbell firmly believes that it is not a suitable choice for everyone. “You have got to be very neurotic about sharp edges on coffee tables because it is literally at the eye level of small children', she warns. 'Mine is rounded bronze bamboo, so it’s perfectly safe when my grandchildren visit'. Indeed, there is an appeal in the fluid forms of curved coffee tables – a current favourite at House & Garden is Tatjana Von Stein’s glass-topped one, whose modernist shape and warm burl wood base would surely smarten up any sitting room.
The interior designer Lucy Cunningham prefers to use an ottoman upholstered in fabric in the place of a traditional coffee table. ‘I love having a patterned one – it adds to the room but it also brings a warm and cosy feeling. They also get less dusty, and because of the pattern they will show marks less easily. In my house I have an ottoman upholstered in an old suzani, and it has stood the test of time against my two dogs and two teenage boys – it’s a good disguise for dirt’. It is a view shared by the interior designer Lucinda Griffith, who points out that the ottoman-coffee table hybrid provides the added bonus of ‘additional seating, or (shock, horror) people being able to put their feet up!’ When sourcing ottomans, Lucinda looks for ones with a shelf underneath. This, she says, is the perfect place for ‘a big square basket that can take the things you don’t want on view, like the kids' toys, remotes or the charging cables’.
What to put on top
'You need to be a little bit ruthless about the top of it’, says Nina. Though it is, of course, a very personal thing, there are some generally-accepted items which will both enhance the coffee table and prove useful. The first is books. ‘I always end up with books on the coffee tables. They are big books on whatever I might want to read about – Oriental textiles or a photograph album. My niece just got married and sent the most wonderfully heavy photo book of the day. It’s something you want to open and flick through’, she adds.
What you want to avoid with books, Lucinda advises, is anything looking too contrived: ‘I would avoid too much symmetry in my arrangement, and definitely avoid doing single books. One stack of five books is better than five individual books spread out with military precision, which will look overthought. If you are stuck on what to put on there, put books that people want to open and look at. Ones that start a conversation, or pass the time’.
Next comes a tray – a particularly useful item if your coffee table is an upholstered ottoman that could benefit from a flat surface on the top. This most ubiquitous of household accessories has its uses in every room in the house – whether next to the bed for jewellery or on the hall table for keys. In the case of the coffee table, it acts as a good container for knick-knacks. You’ll want to consider the fact that once in a blue moon you might actually use the tray to transport coffee to and from its namesake table, and so make sure that the tray’s more permanent residents aren’t too annoying to move. ‘It’s a good place for a lovely candle, matches, or coasters’ says Lucy. ‘Paper weights are a very useful thing to have to hand - I love the John Derian ones. They look pretty and can be really useful if you have a whole stack of papers lying about’.
For Nina, it is important to mix ornamental items with useful ones. ‘My coffee table has got a pretty silver dish that my daughter gave me. It gets filled with almonds when guests come round. Next to it is a rather nice silver leaf which is just ornamental’.
On the subject of useful things, Lucinda suggests adding a ‘nice woven basket that you can tidy family detritus into’. How these things are arranged can be a bit of a ‘tetris puzzle’, she adds. ‘Put your various elements at different angles to each other so that they slot in, but don’t mirror each other’. A mixture of textures and shapes will help the space to feel more organic, and less staged.
What to avoid
‘You don’t want anything too tall, or too precious’ says Lucy. ‘It’s a little precarious and things can easily get knocked off’. She is, of course, quite right, and so you might want to think twice before placing your brand new glass pot pourri bowl or favourite ceramic candlestick where it might be knocked over by a dog’s tail or a toddler’s hand.
You will also need to think about the practicality of your arrangement - avoid anything that obstructs your view across the table. For Lucinda, this includes large flower arrangements, tall candlesticks or storm lanterns. ‘They may look stylish from the door when you look in, but they are intrusive when you are sitting around the table, or if you can’t see the television over the jungle!’
‘You need to have space to put your feet up’, Nina reminds us. ‘So place your books, knick-knacks and other bits and bobs in the middle, with a border around the edge’.
Don’t forget…
‘Don’t take it too seriously or worry about what it says about you’, Lucinda reminds us. ‘An over-thought and immaculate spread of perfect, but untouched items only says that you are worried about what people think about you or want to impress in some way. Have faith that the people you let into your house already like and are interested in you, so it is ok to follow your instincts’. Quite.
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