How To Beautifully Style A Decorative Tray For Your Coffee Table

This year, the fall decorating transformation begins with the round coffee table in the family room. First, remove everything from the table and start with a blank canvas.

Summer slipped away again. Sigh… Although I’ve tried to hold on, my efforts are futile. The river birch sheds its leaves. The temperature has dropped and the rain makes it seem even colder. As much as I hate to admit it, I realize the need to embrace fall and decorate for the season.

Steps For Styling A Decorative Tray For Your Coffee Table

#1 The Tray

Choose a tray. In this case, the 18-inch metal tray is round just like the table. The coffee table is made from wood. In contrast, the tray is metal. Remember, it’s more interesting to have a variety of shapes, sizes, and textures in your composition.

How To Beautifully Style A Decorative Tray For Your Coffee Table — Begin with a tray.

Starting with a wicker serving tray is another good option, like this one on Amazon.

The group of items on a tray reads as a single visual element. You can imagine this group of items without the tray. It wouldn’t be nearly as impressive, would it?

[ctt template=”8″ link=”FQvmH” via=”no” ]This year, the fall decorating transformation begins with the round coffee table in the family room. Easy DIY decorative tray styling. [/ctt]

#2 Elevate The Coffee Table Display With Books

Realizing the candleholders and candles I’m using are not very tall, a book is used as a base to elevate them. While also giving a horizontal element, this one thick book seems to elevate the candles and be sufficient for this display. A stack of thinner books is another option. You want to keep the books proportional to the tray.

#3 Candles And Candleholders To Add Height

Next, add two different heights using candles or vases. These taller items give dimension and a vertical element. In this case, I use two off-white wooden candleholders. Set against the dark of the table and the tray, they are a nice contrast. The detail on the candleholders adds interest, too.

The golden faux candles sitting atop the candleholders are two different sizes to further vary the heights.

#4 Something Living – A Potted Flower For The Coffee Table Display

The gerbera daisy in a pot wrapped with matte gold paper adds a living element and brings some life to the display. You can add cut flowers to achieve the same thing, but the dark orange colors in this little daisy seem a perfect addition to this display. The daisies are another taller element to help visually create a triangular composition. Triangular compositions are pleasing to the eye.

Although there are no hard and fast rules for creating a display, remember that keeping your display items in groups of 3 or 5 helps ensure a pleasing visual display. When you start adding more than five items, it can go from a nice arrangement to a cluttered look.

#5 Decorative Sphere

Isn’t this golden sphere beautiful? I picked this up at HomeGoods a week ago. For whatever reason, it spoke to me and said ‘lush.’ It seems to be the perfect addition to this tabletop display. Large enough to make a statement, it is open and airy enough that it doesn’t overwhelm the composition. When the sun shines in the window, it looks stunning!

Sphere’s come in all sizes, styles, materials, and colors. It’s a good idea to use a nice-sized decorative sphere with candles or vases to fill in, bridge a gap, and anchor the space.

What to do if you don’t have a decorative sphere or don’t care for them? Choose an interesting or personal item with some character to add to your display.

The gold sphere makes a great transitional piece. Since it is an open weave design, it doesn’t add too much visual weight. In this case, a solid sphere would probably seem too heavy.

#6 The Sense Of Smell And Coffee Beans

When I began this display, my intent was to fill a container with some coffee beans and add a little bit of heat with a tea candle. Surely, this will release a heavenly scent of coffee after the candle is lit.

As I scanned the cupboards for small containers just right for this little project, I spotted this little bowl. The clear glass gives a perfect view of the coffee beans. A tiny little tea candle is nestled down in the middle of the beans. Once lit, this little candle heats the beans around it and gives off a heavenly scent of coffee. I love it!

If the coffee doesn’t interest you, then add your favorite scented candle!

Conclusion

How easy is this? Anyone can style a coffee table display! Look around your own home. You probably already have most of the elements for your own personal display and you can do this!