Glass coffee table decorating ideas to jazz up your living room. I’m sharing three different looks with coffee table styling with decors that you can find easily at your home, even with a limited decor collection.
Styling glass coffee table is essential to decorate your living room
Coffee table is one of the focal points of the living room. And because it has a lot of flat surfaces, it’s naturally a place to add personality and beauty to your space.
I have a glass-top coffee table, so I’d like to share some coffee table decorating ideas with you.
So introducing… Styling a glass coffee table in three ways with a twist!
I live in a small house(< 1000 sqft), and I am on my journey to become more minimal with my belongings, so I don’t really have much-dedicated space to store a lot of things purely for decoration.
So instead, I want to be more mindful of what I bring home and keep only the beautiful and functional essentials. For this post, I’ll share how to reuse just a few elements to create different looks for your living room decorating glass coffee table.
The key is to reuse essential decor items.
Like a capsule wardrobe, you have a few essential garment pieces you can mix and match to create different looks daily.
In the home decoration case, I’m creating a capsule decor collection that I can mix and match to create different and unique vibes for my coffee table to match the season or mood.
How to style a glass coffee table
Compared to styling other coffee tables, there are a few things to consider when decorating glass coffee tables.
Because glass is a see-through material, be mindful of what you place above and under glass table decoration.
Only add a little glass decor to create a varied texture. Avoid glass with the same color or texture but instead choose glass decor with a different color or texture, such as this candle hurricane with a ribbed surface.
At the same time, try to balance the coldness with something that feels warm, organic, or soft.
Glass is a very reflective and smooth surface, so it can expose any lint or dirt. I will avoid putting things that are fuzzy or that shed a lot on the glass coffee table surface.
Glass coffee table styling video
Here’s a 3 ways video walk through the process of decorating a glass coffee table and a few key ideas I used in styling.
If you want to watch more videos like this, be sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel.
Glass coffee table decor ideas – 3 looks breakdown
Styling Idea 1: Classic with Contrast
Because my coffee table is significant, I want to ensure I have at least a large piece that can ground the space.
In this look, I placed a big hurricane glass that I use as a vase with a bunch of tulips inside. I recently got a bouquet of tulips from Trader Joe’s for only $11, and It looks so pretty.
I love the cream color with light pink stripes on the petals, which resonate with those white ceramic pieces on books.
The vase is quite large, so I stacked two coffee books together to balance that out. Sometimes a stack of books can lay flat, so I added some more miniature decor to increase the height and add more shapes.
Because the books are rectangular, I’m adding round shapes by adding some candle holders I made. I practice pottery in my spare time, so I have a lot of rounded ceramic pieces to work with.
Then I felt like I needed something to connect those pieces, so I’m using these black beads, but I’m twisting them a little bit to form an exciting movement.
I also added a candle from my favorite candle brand Cire Trudon. I think the candle’s dark color and black beads talk to each other and just work so well together.
One decoration tip: when you style with dark colors but still want to have a light and bright look, just use them on small pieces.
Generally speaking, in decorating, you might have heard the rule of 3. But for me, I don’t follow it religiously. For example, in this look, I used two groupings on the glass coffee table, which works well as they balance each other but are somewhat symmetrical.
However, if you look at the right grouping, I am using 3 things – book, candle, and beads because they create excellent harmony in this case.
Styling Idea 2: Soft And Romantic, With A Light Color Palette
Coffee table decoration idea No.2 is based on idea no.1, but I’m swapping a couple of things out to create a softer and more romantic vibe.
First, I gave the tulips a different look by opening the tulip petals.
I picked this up from florists, and I love how it makes tulips into a unique flower. It also makes the bouquet of flowers more substantial visually.
This floral trick works extra well when the blooms are slightly older and naturally open up more.
I’m going for a lighter color palette for this coffee table decorating idea. So even though I kept the book stack, I turned the books around and showed the white pages instead.
Alternatively, you can also cover the books up with lighter, softer colored paper if your coffee table decoration will be viewed from all angles.
On top of the books, I added a rattan coaster for some natural texture. I’m a big fan of rattan, as you can tell from my rattan glass vase DIY project.
Then I placed a light mint-green dish on top of the coaster. The green color here can be found in tulips, so they look harmonious together – the power of repeating colors.
On top of that, I swap out the black beads for white beads to brighten up the color palette while having the organic lines in this coffee tabletop composition.
I added a small vase with some bunny tail grass to make this look more different.
I like that it adds a touch of whimsy. I also turned the books a little bit so it looks more dynamic. Also, make some space for the small vase.
Styling Idea 3: Boho, Collected, & Anthropologie Inspired
Now move on to the 3rd look, which I’ll describe as a boho and collected look. Maybe something you see in Anthropologie stores as their store display.
It’s another variation from look no.1 – similar decor but a different vibe and composition.
I’m replacing the tulips with some greeneries. I clipped that seeded eucalyptus around where I live. Unlike flowers, these eucalyptus branches give a whimsical and relaxed vibe.
I have used books twice, so this time I replaced them with an upcycled cigar box.
I have a DIY tutorial with a video on this DIY that you can check out here.
For this look, I’m aiming to create three groupings. So for the third pile, I used the candle set. It is dark green, so I think it played well with the greenery and black beads.
On top of the box, I draped over the chain of beads to add more textures. I also like how contrasting things are in this look.
Then the top is missing something round. So I added this little bud vase from my handmade pottery collections, clipped some flowers from my backyard, and placed them in.
This is the most eclectic look of all three because of the number of textures and shapes in this look. And I really love it!
Coffee table decorating essentials
Glass coffee table decorating ideas summary
It is always super fun to style a coffee table. I hope you found my tips helpful and like the different decorating ideas I shared. Now it is time to decorate your own coffee table!
What is your favorite look of all three glass coffee tables? Let me know in the comments!
If you are looking for more coffee table decorating and styling ideas, you can find additional tips from MyDomaine and Elle Decor.
Megan says
any suggestions for similar white beads? I love these but the listing is gone on etsy. If on amazon would be even better! thanks!
Kelin says
I just updated the links to show similar beads 🙂
Ann says
Love your ideas! But where did you find such a small footed bowl? I can’t seem to find one.
Kelin says
I made the small footed bowl myself. If you are asking for the glass bowl vase, it is from Tuesday Made.
carol hawkins says
i liked them all, but my favorite was #3!!!!
Kelin says
#3 is also secretly my favorite coffee table look 🙂