Using the Lower Shelf of a Coffee Table
I was on my knees Tuesday morning, vacuum attachment in one hand, phone flashlight in the other, trying to work out what exactly had colonized the space under my coffee…
Coffee Table Styling for a Living Room: How Much Is Too Much
I bought an entire coffee table’s worth of decor in one trip to a big box store once, and I mean the whole thing, tray, three “coordinating” candles, a stack…
Glass Coffee Tables: Living With the Fingerprints
I wipe down my coffee table somewhere between six and ten times a day. I know this because I started counting one particularly bad week in February, mostly out of…
Round Coffee Tables: Why Styling Them Is Easier Than It Looks
I was on my knees in my own living room on a Tuesday night, moving the rug for the fourth time that month, when I caught my shin on the…
Small Coffee Table: Making a Little Surface Work Hard
Small coffee tables have a reputation for being the consolation prize of furniture, the thing you buy when you couldn’t fit the real coffee table, the one with the ottoman…
What Goes in a Bowl on a Coffee Table
Renata walked into my apartment two weekends ago, stopped dead in front of the coffee table, and said, “Chloe. Is that a bowl of rocks.” Not a question really. More…
Decorative Bowl Fillers for a Coffee Table, Season by Season
I dropped my keys into the bowl on my coffee table last Tuesday and heard them land on top of a receipt from CVS, a hair tie, one AirPod that…
What to Put on a Coffee Table: Height, Texture and Restraint
Coffee tables have a reputation problem, and it’s the same one that ruins pantries and closets and every other surface that gets photographed for design blogs: they’re supposed to look…
Charcoal Sofa Pillows and Coffee Tables That Work
I bought my first charcoal sofa in 2011 convinced I was buying black, and I want you to sit with that for a second before you judge me too hard,…
Chocolate Brown Sofa: Pillows and Coffee Tables That Suit It
My sister walked into my living room in January, still wearing her coat because the house was doing its usual impression of a meat locker, took one look at the…