Simple Side Table Decorating
A side table serves an important function in a living room, bedroom, or entryway. More than just a surface to hold keys, phones, and remote controls, a creatively styled side table can elevate the design of any room. With some thoughtful decorating, your humble side table can become a chic display area that reflects your personal style.
From layering textures and colors to including practical and decorative items, you will discover tips to makeover your side table stylishly. Let's dig into how to refresh this small yet essential piece of furniture to complement your home's decor.
Style Your Side Table to Match Room Decor
When decorating a side table, first consider the existing style and color palette of the room. Your side table decor does not need to strictly match the room's decor, but some cohesion creates a pulled-together look. For example, if your living room features a coastal cottage style with lots of white and navy blue, bring in those colors with nautical-inspired photo frames, ceramic vases, or even seashells and driftwood on your side table.
Choose Decor That Aligns With the Room's Style
If your room boasts a glamorous style, dial up the drama on your side table. Look for statement making pieces like jewel-toned velvet boxes, perfume bottles with ornate gold detailing, or black and white prints in bold graphic frames. Conversely, if you want to soften a sleek, contemporary space, add warmth with ceramic vases, woven baskets, or a cut-glass candlestick filled with fresh blooms.
- Modern farmhouse style: rustic elements like galvanized metal buckets overflowing with faux eucalyptus stems
- Hollywood regency style: gleaming gold frames and decadent faux fur throws
- Bohemian style: collections of crystals, geodes, or colorful glass bottles grouped artfully together
Repurpose Items as Decor for an Eclectic Style
For rooms with an eclectic style, anything goes when it comes to accessorizing your side table! The key to pulling off this decorative mash-up is to unify pieces through color. For example, combine a stack of vibrantly colored coffee table books with a retro-inspired metal desk organizers fitted with glass jars full of seashells. The common colors connect visually dissimilar objects while playing up the room's quirky vibe.
Use a Color Palette That Complements the Room
Keep your side table decor cohesive with the rest of the room through color. If your walls are painted a deep charcoal gray, opt for black and white photo prints paired with ceramic vases in matching dark and moody hues. Or if your living room features sunny yellow walls, choose a tray decorated in complementary shades of blue and green to display your decor.
Add Lighting for Extra Dimension
Lighting is a quick way to add extra style to your side table. Opt for adjustable swing arm sconces that direct light right where you need it most. Or make a decor statement with sculpturesque polished nickel lamps or vibrantly colored table lamps. You can also incorporate lighting seamlessly with candles, which add flattering ambient light. Cluster pillar candles, mercury glass votives, or even tea lights in colored glass holders.
Include Practical Decor Items
The best side table decor seamlessly blends form and function. Include items you actually use to avoid cluttering the small surface area with meaningless knickknacks. Practical accents pull double duty, adding style while also serving a valuable purpose in your home.
Books and Magazines for Easy Access
Display books and magazines you are currently reading to keep them within arm's reach. Stack horizontally with the spines facing out to highlight covers and titles. Or stand a treasured book upright open to showcase a favorite page. Style magazines attractively fanned out to entice browsing. Tip: add bookends to keep loose pages corralled.
Coasters to Protect Table Surfaces
Protect wood or lacquered side table surfaces from moisture damage by always using a coaster for beverage glasses. Select coordinating coasters that match your overall decor scheme. Opt for materials like cork, glass, or marble that add texture and complement surrounding accessories.
A Small Plant for a Natural Element
Add life to your side table display with a low maintenance houseplant like a succulent or air plant. Greenery brings nature indoors while filtering the air. Choose a plant in a colorful pot that pops against your table's surface. Coordinate the planter with the room's color story for a pulled-together designer look.
Candles for Aroma, Ambience and Lighting
Candles check all the boxes for excellent side table decor. They add warming ambience, scent the air, and provide beautiful cozy lighting for nighttime. Cluster an assortment of sizes and styles unified by a matching color palette. Or make a single large statement with chunky pillar candles. Opt for battery-operated flames for safe long-term use.
Layer Decor Pieces for Depth
One of the easiest tricks for styling a side table is to layer pieces. Creating vertical dimension adds visual interest to what would otherwise be a flat surface. Follow these layering fundamentals for pro-level tablescape designs.
Start with Larger Decorative Items as a Base
Anchor your display with one or two larger items like stack of large coffee table books, a sizable stoneware planter, a lacquered box or richly hued ceramic vase. These substantial pieces literally and visually ground the arrangement.
Add Medium and Smaller Pieces Over the Base
Next include a medium sized object like a desk organizer, framed photo, short vase or decorative bowl. Finally, creatively add smaller elements on top like a mini succulent, candlestick, seashell or stack of glittering geode slices.
Create Height with Decorative Risers
Lift key pieces to vary heights for added intrigue. Opt for decorative risers like jeweled glass candle plateaus, metallic wire stands or short hand-painted wooden crates. This creates a more dynamic tablescape.
Play with Shape and Texture Combinations
Merge pieces with contrasting shapes and textures for visual appeal. For example, pair sleek mercury glass vases with a nubby linen covered box and matte ceramic planter. Accent with a feathery faux plant. The interplay between forms and surfaces brings satisfying depth.
Refresh Decor Seasonally
Rather than keeping your side table display stagnant year-round, have fun updating it to reflect the seasons. This gives you an opportunity to switch out accessories to keep your room's style feeling fresh.
Rotate Decor Items Based on Season
Store weather-specific pieces and swap in seasonal accessories as the calendar changes. For example, stow chunky knit blankets in summer and replace them with a vibrant sunburst mirror. Come fall, switch in warming cinnamon-scented candles and a mini pumpkin decoration.
Use Natural Seasonal Elements
Incorporate organic objects to connect your home with seasonal changes happening outdoors. Display autumnal finds like acorns and curling leaves in the fall. In springtime, fill bud vases with sweet pea blooms or forsythia branches.
- Summer: sand dollars, seaglass, starfish
- Fall: pinecones, mini gourds
- Winter: evergreen sprigs, wispy pampas grass
- Spring: tulips, daffodils, flowering branches
Showcase Seasonal Colors
Refresh your color story by embracing each season's signature shades.
- Winter: frosty silver, ice blue, forest green, crimson red
- Spring: sea glass greens, buttery yellow, soothing lavender
- Summer: beachy blues, coral, sunny yellow
- Fall: amber, mustard, blush
Display Holiday-Themed Pieces
Get festive with themed decor items! A miniature fir tree or glass snowflakes bring merry cheer for Christmas and Hanukkah. Capture the spooky yet playful spirit of Halloween with sweet trick-or-treat candy buckets accompanied by glittery pumpkins. Or celebrate the red, white and blue with flags, candles, and bunting for the Fourth of July.
DIY Side Table Decorating Ideas
For the crafty at heart, customizing side table accessories allows you to align the design with your personal tastes. From furniture makeovers to decorative crafts, tap into your creativity with these DIY side table decor ideas.
Paint, Stencil or Decoupage Your Table
Give a plain wooden side table new life with a colorful makeover. Sand surfaces then coat with a few thin layers of spray paint. For more visual interest, use painters tape to mask off stripes, geometric patterns or designs before painting. Or decoupage your table using maps, wallpaper samples or pages from old books.
- Ombre paint technique from dark to light.
- Boldly colored stripes for modern graphic appeal.
- Metallic finishes like copper, silver or gold
Craft Decorative Trays or Coasters
Make custom trays and coasters from inexpensive materials purchased at craft stores. Use decorative-edged scissors to cut felt into a favored shape then use fabric glue to adhere around the edges of a round board piece. Or arrange colorful glass beads, buttons or oyster shell fragments into fun patterns on wooden discs to create one-of-a-kind coasters.
Arrange Collected Natural Items
Display a curated collection of natural pieces gathered from your own backyard or local beachcombing excursions. Design a seaside-inspired vignette featuring starfish, sand dollars, sea glass and shells clustered casually on a tray with a coral mother-of-pearl candle poised picturesquely to one side.
Showcase Photos Creatively
For personalized style, exhibit cherished photos in inventive ways. Arrange colorful prints in an enamel planter, pin snapshots to a ribbon suspended across the wall behind the table, display in faceted glass frames propped against stacked books, or connect digitals to a mini digital frame slideshow.
Decorating your side table presents a fun styling opportunity to infuse rooms with extra personality. With creative layering, seasonal refreshers, practical accents, and DIY projects you can fashion this modest furnishing into an artistic display. Use the tips and ideas in this guide to begin envisioning innovative ways to restyle your side table into a chic addition that elevates your interior space.
A well-decorated side table serves both beautiful form and handy function. With personalized flair, it greets you each day, holding daily essentials while also creating an artistic focal point. Follow your creative instincts to design a space that inspires and brings joy whenever your eyes land on your newly fabulous side table.