During the holidays, our coffee table looked like this:
One white tray + three red disco ball ornaments + one box of cheap red ikea ornaments = one unintimidating but rather festive centerpiece.
It was easy to put together. And since we had about two minutes to decorate the house before the Christmas party, easiness was our goal.
But the Christmas party is over. The holidays ended. And my coffee table needs some adornment like Tom needs Katie. And let’s be honest…she makes him look sufferable. And I loved Top Gun.
For some casual but chic coffee table inspiration, I hit up Pottery Barn dot com.
What I noticed was that coffee tables had a variation of a book and a tray. Like this one with an opened book and a tray ready to serve. And I love the bohemian flair to this setup…the dramatic color scheme really made the stark white tray seem to fit right in. And the idea of having a cup o tea while reading or a water glass while you browse a mag on that daybed seemed just dreamy.
I love large trunks for their storage and their ability to dual role play as a table. And a stack of books and a tray of monochromatic chotchkies seems easy enough to move should I need a blankie 🙂
The two-fer coffee table is such a great trend and I would have thought that making a pleasing tabletop arrangement with two separate tables would be a trying task. Pottery Barn makes it look easy with a few books on one and a tray of candles on the other. High five PB!
The two-fer coffee table is such a great trend and I would have thought that making a pleasing tabletop arrangement with two separate tables would be a trying task. Pottery Barn makes it look easy with a few books on one and a tray of candles on the other. High five PB!
One of my favorite inspiration pictures is definitely this tray o’ hardbacks paired with a bowl of greenery. Again – easy to move if you need to get into the trunk. And easy on the eyes with the large scale of both the tray & the bowl. Definitely casual. Definitely chic. This is one succulent coffee table that really doesn’t suck.
Lastly, another example of an easy coffee table arrangement that screams like Paris Hilton “I am easy – you can do me!” A few matching jars of various heights filled with some walnuts and a couple books definitely inspires me to try out the whole TRAY n’ BOOKs combo.
So, out went the red adornaments and in came the TRAY n’ BOOKs. I used the white tray that was already in the living room and in it situated the large glass jar of green faux artichokes I got for Christmas. Next to the jar, I added a wooden candle to tie in a little natural feel and a bit of brown. Then I snatched the white horse bust that I scored at Target for $6. The various heights in the tray gave it a really cohesive feeling. Then I threw some white books in a stack on the other side of the coffee table to balance out the white tray. Finally, the white books are topped off with a green journal. I love how the little green book balances out the green of the artichokes, don’t you agree?
And for all you TV lovers – no it doesn’t block the viewing pleasure of the television. But if it did, I only have to pick up one stack of books and one tray to move the whole kit-n-caboodle. And that is definitely something that makes me happy. Because as you know, nothing comes between me and The Bachelor or The Biggest Loser or Survivor or The Discovery Channel or Ugly Betty or Top Design or Big Brother or Dancing with the Stars or The Hills (I know I am too old for it…I don’t care). The list goes on and on and on…and now, so does the love for my coffee table 🙂
What do you put on your mesa el coffee? That’s ‘coffee table’…sortof. Do you have a go-to-combo that you stick to no matter what? Did a book make it on there? Or are you a plain jane with an old-cup-of-joe coffee table? Let me know…I have one more table in the den that needs a little sprucing…