Coffee Table Chic on a Budget
Elegant coffee tables are typically home to lush decor books and leather-bound tomes about vintage anything. (Guilty as charged, m'lud.) Throw in a couple of gold candlesticks and many monies later there's nothing left for our guests - like food.
But what if you're Bougie on a Budget and also cannot afford the £2,000 coffee table it should all be placed on?
The first thing to do is pare the whole thing back and start looking around home initially for interesting pieces and ideas. Also strip from top of mind the myriad of design Dos and Don'ts as that's a sure road to madness.
At a push, spend a little money where you have to.
For instance, bunches and bunches of Peonies (sadly coming to the end of their theatre run for another year) do look sumptuous and decadent, but limited to three peony heads in a shallow bowl of water and we have understated elegance instead.
So, keeping to the strip-it-back and no-money vibe, a pretty coffee table can cost a fraction of the pages and pages of Pinterest pretties on the subject. Take this set-up for instance:
1. PLANT - from home
2. SCENT BURNER - discount shop
3. WOODEN BOWL - vintage/junk shop
4. WOOD & GLASS "TRAY" - charity shop framed picture (with the depiction of a Llama wearing Mardi Gras beads removed)
5. TABLE - two rectangular storage Ottomans formed to shape a square - from home
6. COFFEE TABLE RUNNER - fabric from home. No fabric stash? Lined single curtain panels of every design can be bought for a song, especially when on sale. Again, though, plain and pared back won't compete with things placed on top of it
7. As an added bonus, the peonies can later be dried and enjoyed off-Broadway for weeks and months to come.
But what if you're Bougie on a Budget and also cannot afford the £2,000 coffee table it should all be placed on?
The first thing to do is pare the whole thing back and start looking around home initially for interesting pieces and ideas. Also strip from top of mind the myriad of design Dos and Don'ts as that's a sure road to madness.
At a push, spend a little money where you have to.
For instance, bunches and bunches of Peonies (sadly coming to the end of their theatre run for another year) do look sumptuous and decadent, but limited to three peony heads in a shallow bowl of water and we have understated elegance instead.
So, keeping to the strip-it-back and no-money vibe, a pretty coffee table can cost a fraction of the pages and pages of Pinterest pretties on the subject. Take this set-up for instance:
1. PLANT - from home
2. SCENT BURNER - discount shop
3. WOODEN BOWL - vintage/junk shop
4. WOOD & GLASS "TRAY" - charity shop framed picture (with the depiction of a Llama wearing Mardi Gras beads removed)
5. TABLE - two rectangular storage Ottomans formed to shape a square - from home
6. COFFEE TABLE RUNNER - fabric from home. No fabric stash? Lined single curtain panels of every design can be bought for a song, especially when on sale. Again, though, plain and pared back won't compete with things placed on top of it
7. As an added bonus, the peonies can later be dried and enjoyed off-Broadway for weeks and months to come.
The great thing when we have a limited budget is we can let our imagination and creative juices go wild, and often end up with a style all our own, one that is truly in keeping with our lifestyle. For instance, I LOVE fabric and flora and often have cuttings everywhere. See below for one way to style them on a coffee table.
And if friends comment on the lack of expensive books and gold candlesticks on our coffee tables? Might one suggest it’s our friends that need upgrading and not our style? 😊 Mx
