Posted on: February 8, 2010

Still Life

With your coffee table as a canvas, create a stunning tablescape that's the cherry on the top of your living room

By Christopher Adamson
CTW Features

Image courtesy Behr

Shift the pile of magazines three inches to the left. Dishevel them slightly. Place four fake oranges in the ceramic tray. Add the small, healthy potted succulent plant slightly off to one side. Arranging your coffee or cocktail tablescape is like this - precise yet arbitrary, thought-over yet seemingly effortless. In truth, it's a lot like a still life arrangement in the middle of your living room.

"I think of a table top as a landscape, albeit a small one, that allows for a variety of scales and shapes to create a pleasing composition," says interior designer Glenn Gissler of Glenn Gissler Design in New York City. He is certain there is more art than science to the process of piecing together your coffee table.

To begin, Gissler recommends starting with a table that works well by itself and can still function as a table after it's been decorated. Then he suggests starting with objects that have personal meaning or importance. "It should be personal and reflect your own interests and values," he says. "One man's junk is another's treasure."

That being said, it is also a good idea to choose items that are practical for the space, like short sculptures, candles or flowers that guests can see over, a few attractive books that represent you but won't look cluttered, a box with a lid for remote controls, or even an artful candy bowl. "I love black jelly beans in a Wedgwood basalt ware bowl - shiny black in a matte bowl," Gissler says.

If your living room is more of a family room, however, "it should be more casual, with the remotes and the kids' toys easily accessible," says interior designer Melodie Rubin of House of Ruby Design in San Francisco. "It can be a little more loose, messy even, maybe with a few nice trays to hold things."

Besides practicality, Rubin also suggests finding small pieces of art from your life and travels that will start conversations - "I have these Chinese horsehair brushes on my table that have beautiful handles on them, people always ask about them," she says. But, she also advises that you shouldn't get stuck with a particular arrangement forever.

"Unlike a painting, the objects in your tablescape can be moved around," she says. "Depending on your mood, your changing style or your taste, you can create a new tablescape really easily by rearranging the items or adding new ones, taking others away."

"You can consider foreground and background, perspective and height and depth when doing the cocktail table," just as still-life painters do, Rubin adds. The table is like the canvas - it will look great with some creative experimentation.