How to Style Your Console Table Beautifully
Super-slim console tables are more about stylish staging than practicality. Here’s how to pimp yours like a pro
Lucy Searle
18 April 2018
Houzz Contributor. Editor in Chief of RealHomes.com. I am an editor, journalist, web and copywriter. I was Editor of the hugely successful www.channel4.com/4homes, taking it from a small site to a leading brand. I was also founding Editor of Channel 4’s 4Homes magazine, was Associate Editor at Ideal Home and have written for MSN, Huffington Post, Homes & Gardens, Country Homes & Interiors, Beautiful Kitchens, House Beautiful, Good Homes, and many women’s titles. I founded www.tailoredcontent.co.uk with a fellow journalist and together we blog, write web content and run social media accounts for (mostly) interiors companies. As a general rule, I write about everything from buying and selling property, self build, DIY, design and consumer issues to gardening but have tackled travel and family...
Houzz Contributor. Editor in Chief of RealHomes.com. I am an editor, journalist,... More
Handy for piling the post on to, for shoving your shoes under, as a mini home office desk, as the slimmest of dressing tables or sideboards… Console tables – and console units – are only really at their best when dressed to impress. Here, 10 stylish examples are deconstructed to see why they work. Notebooks at the ready…
Address the angles
If your console sits beside your staircase – or in an understairs cavity – play up the architecture’s angles by dressing your table with accessories that flatter them. Here, the lamp-to-book ratio mimics the stairs’ descent.
If you’re planning to group items, like these vases, do it in odd numbers, with the tallest at the back, and the smaller pieces on either side. Don’t ask me why – it just works.
Browse hallway furniture in the Houzz Shop
If your console sits beside your staircase – or in an understairs cavity – play up the architecture’s angles by dressing your table with accessories that flatter them. Here, the lamp-to-book ratio mimics the stairs’ descent.
If you’re planning to group items, like these vases, do it in odd numbers, with the tallest at the back, and the smaller pieces on either side. Don’t ask me why – it just works.
Browse hallway furniture in the Houzz Shop
Go homespun
A demi-lune table has a cute vintage look that suits period hallways or alcoves in cosy living rooms. Paint yours in a chalky shade, stash homespun finds beneath it, and display a jumble of eclectic but colour-coordinated antique fair bargains on top. Bell jars and glass bottles make great containers for everything from fake flowers to balls of twine.
See 7 of the most organised hallways on Houzz
A demi-lune table has a cute vintage look that suits period hallways or alcoves in cosy living rooms. Paint yours in a chalky shade, stash homespun finds beneath it, and display a jumble of eclectic but colour-coordinated antique fair bargains on top. Bell jars and glass bottles make great containers for everything from fake flowers to balls of twine.
See 7 of the most organised hallways on Houzz
Frame artwork
The elongated shape of a console table or, as here, unit makes it perfect for framing artwork. Enhance the effect by putting matching tall lamps at either end and an assortment of low-slung accessories underneath.
For best results, colour-coordinate the entire arrangement, and hang the picture so its underside is no more than a hand’s width or two from the table top.
The elongated shape of a console table or, as here, unit makes it perfect for framing artwork. Enhance the effect by putting matching tall lamps at either end and an assortment of low-slung accessories underneath.
For best results, colour-coordinate the entire arrangement, and hang the picture so its underside is no more than a hand’s width or two from the table top.
Fashion a teeny home office
A barely there console table with a storage drawer makes a great small-space desk. Keep the table top minimally dressed: a slim lamp is a must-have, and perhaps a clock radio, but little else.
Ideally, fix a slim shelf above or push the table against a windowsill so you can use the extra surface to display pretty glassware (or attractive storage pots if needed) that coordinate with a colourful chair in front.
A barely there console table with a storage drawer makes a great small-space desk. Keep the table top minimally dressed: a slim lamp is a must-have, and perhaps a clock radio, but little else.
Ideally, fix a slim shelf above or push the table against a windowsill so you can use the extra surface to display pretty glassware (or attractive storage pots if needed) that coordinate with a colourful chair in front.
Exaggerate proportions
Create a smart first impression in a country-style hallway by going overboard with super-sized floral displays. Big blooms, such as lavender or hydrangeas, in matching baskets or pots, positioned at either end of the table and framing a large mirror, will be ideal.
Choose convincing fake flowers if you’re likely to let the real things droop. Hide clutter (post, keys, dogs’ leads) in a matching basket underneath.
Create a smart first impression in a country-style hallway by going overboard with super-sized floral displays. Big blooms, such as lavender or hydrangeas, in matching baskets or pots, positioned at either end of the table and framing a large mirror, will be ideal.
Choose convincing fake flowers if you’re likely to let the real things droop. Hide clutter (post, keys, dogs’ leads) in a matching basket underneath.
Choose colour contrast
For a laid-back look, lean artwork against a wall painted in a contrasting colour. Group square frames at one end of the table and provide further contrast with a circular frame at the other, as here.
The curves of the pots aren’t accidental: they echo the mirror’s shape, connecting the two ends of the table. The foliage adds a much-needed splash of chaos to the neatness of the display.
For a laid-back look, lean artwork against a wall painted in a contrasting colour. Group square frames at one end of the table and provide further contrast with a circular frame at the other, as here.
The curves of the pots aren’t accidental: they echo the mirror’s shape, connecting the two ends of the table. The foliage adds a much-needed splash of chaos to the neatness of the display.
Work a layered look
How to style a console table with a shelf beneath? Set up two different displays for maximum visual impact, with the lower shelf devoted to neat, boxy shapes, and the table top to more random forms.
A gap in the middle of the table top display will make it look purposeful and neat – and provide the pause needed for a mirror or picture to sneak in just above.
How to style a console table with a shelf beneath? Set up two different displays for maximum visual impact, with the lower shelf devoted to neat, boxy shapes, and the table top to more random forms.
A gap in the middle of the table top display will make it look purposeful and neat – and provide the pause needed for a mirror or picture to sneak in just above.
Mix and match
This table-top display is a lesson in rhythm. Despite being mismatched and random, the tops of the items create a pleasing wave shape. What’s more, none of the colours or textures compete for attention. The mirror, which is hung in the space created by the lamp and rosemary plants, is also close enough to the wall shelf above to bring the two displays together.
This table-top display is a lesson in rhythm. Despite being mismatched and random, the tops of the items create a pleasing wave shape. What’s more, none of the colours or textures compete for attention. The mirror, which is hung in the space created by the lamp and rosemary plants, is also close enough to the wall shelf above to bring the two displays together.
Create an art gallery
Busy, busy, busy… But this display isn’t random. Lamps frame the focal feature of the room – the artwork – with cut flowers at either end heightening the effect.
The pictures are hung low over the unit, while the one with the thickest frame is propped and leans into the gallery, creating an integral link. The chunky bowl echoes the proportions of the leaning frame, while the books beneath mirror the lines of the pictures above.
Busy, busy, busy… But this display isn’t random. Lamps frame the focal feature of the room – the artwork – with cut flowers at either end heightening the effect.
The pictures are hung low over the unit, while the one with the thickest frame is propped and leans into the gallery, creating an integral link. The chunky bowl echoes the proportions of the leaning frame, while the books beneath mirror the lines of the pictures above.
Hide it behind the sofa
A classic place to put a console table is behind a sofa, whether on show to the rest of the room or, more interestingly, against a wall, where you can frame the view of what’s behind the table as well as what’s on top.
Want to create a formal feel? Go for symmetry, achieved here with huge matching lamps and the pleasing square of the wall clock. The statuettes might not match, but they’re lined up neatly like soldiers on parade.
Tell us…
Do you any have styling tips for console tables – or photos of your own? Share them in the Comments section.
A classic place to put a console table is behind a sofa, whether on show to the rest of the room or, more interestingly, against a wall, where you can frame the view of what’s behind the table as well as what’s on top.
Want to create a formal feel? Go for symmetry, achieved here with huge matching lamps and the pleasing square of the wall clock. The statuettes might not match, but they’re lined up neatly like soldiers on parade.
Tell us…
Do you any have styling tips for console tables – or photos of your own? Share them in the Comments section.
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Helpful article, thanks. I have been dissatisfied with the way some of the surfaces in our place look. It has made me realize that because I am reusing lamps, frames and other objects bought for a previous location their proportions aren't right. Needs a serious rethink and I'll using some of these ideas.
I love consol tables, i just counted 4 in my house. Id love two either side of fireplace but my husband loves his big tv too much! Ive had to make do with two smaller mirrored lamp tables instead..... sigh!