A Tastemakers’ Guide To Coffee-Table Curation

“People underestimate just how much a coffee-table display can tell you about the person who owns the home,” says Vienna-based fashion and interiors creator Ebru Erkut. “If there are books on display, you immediately get a sense of the topics [the homeowners] are interested in. If there are souvenirs from abroad, you can tell where they’ve traveled. Even the way everything is arranged says something about a person.”

From a half-read Percival Everett novel with a faded coffee ring on the cover to a small spray of periwinkles in a delicate vase and the muskiness of your candle fragrance selection, the art of coffee-table curation offers a portrait of personality; a guest’s first gauge of their host’s interiority. But where to start?

If there is a styling element that every tastemaker agrees on, it is flowers. Whatever form your flora take, a bloom should be the anchor for an intentional table. Flowers should be the centerpiece and the springboard for every other decision. “Floral arrangements are my favorite part of a coffee table,” says fashion and gardens designer Nikki Balsem. “They are a creative outlet for me. I love seeing which flowers are in season and how I can create appealing bouquets with them.”

Balsem favors sculptural vessels that are beautiful with or without flowers and insists that proportion matters more than novelty: “The height of the vase and the width and shape of the opening that suit the bouquet is essential for the right end result.” A big, brightly colored La DoubleJ jardinière tells a very different story to Christofle’s tall, slender, ‘Cardinal’ silver-plated vase that boasts a single long-stemmed delphinium.

Interiors stylist Cassandra Noel agrees, building every table around “something alive”. She creates her own arrangements every two weeks using hydrangeas from her garden, adding seasonal flowers from the florist. Her favorite? “Amaranthus is that girl,” she laughs. “I love how they seem to drape effortlessly around the table. They’re like a living art piece.” And an artful Amaranthus demands a directional vase to display it in. Consider a bow-embellished Completedworks ceramic or Ginori 1735 porcelain option.

“I think your home should look like a peek into your brain,” says Jackie McCabe, co-founder of luxury homeware and gifts brand Mémoire. “Whatever makes you smile when you walk in the door is the right answer.”

“I always vote for stacked curiosities,” she adds. “The coffee table is the easiest place to show personality, to mix things up and to put your most prized and personal items.”

Having a degree of purpose is the main difference between stylish abundance and visual clutter. Every piece should feel like it has earned its place. “You can display more objects than you might think,” says Cording-Booth, “so long as the arrangement makes their presence look intentional.”

Her secret is the careful injection of beautiful trays. Whether you choose a collection of candles, an assortment of shells or a delightfully quaint Astier de Villate ‘Squirrel’ ceramic incense burner, your coffee table accoutrement will be instantly elevated by a tray.

From La DoubleJ’s painted porcelain trinket trays, through to Reflections Copenhagen’s segregated onyx boxes, there is a plethora of interesting displays that will make your prized pieces feel like carefully curated artifacts.

When all is said and done – objets d’art collected, candle fragrances chosen and books stacked – the key to a stylish, memorable and intriguing coffee table, it would appear, is to keep as true as possible to your personality and aesthetic, and arrange everything with both thought and wit.