Home Reset Mini Series | Easy Styling Tips for your Home

Home Reset Mini Series | How to Style your Coffee Table & Shelves

In episode 4 of the Home Reset Mini Series we're talking all things styling. Coffee table styling, kitchen shelves styling, console styling, bedside table styling... you name it! These are my basic tips to help your find your confidence and add your personal touch in styling little pockets around your home.

1. Use a tray or basket as a base to cluster objects together.
2. Add books and magazines that are in line with your overall vibe.
3. Add fun objects and plants but keep proportions balnced.

You can absolutely create spaces throughout your home that are stylish, functional, and reflective of your personal taste. Enjoy!

Transcript

Hello. Welcome back to episode four of the Home Reset mini series. I'm so excited to bring you this episode because I have been receiving such awesome feedback from you all about how much you have loved this miniseries. And I'm absolutely loving hearing your stories of how you're implementing the other three episodes that I've shared with you in your home and your spaces and how it's just giving you a refresh. So keep on sending those messages through. Make sure you leave a of you letting me know how you're loving this little home glow up edit mini series. It's been so fun to prepare and share with you guys. I just love it because I love, love, love everything about the home and the vibe that we can create in our spaces. This episode is all about interior styling tips, specifically how to style shelves, coffee tables, little spaces like that. So I feel like if you have the basics for styling those spaces, those little kind of pockets throughout your home, you really do have the basics. And you'll find your confidence in styling many different areas throughout your house. This is such a fun little episode. But before you jump in and listen to this episode, make sure you go back and listen to the other three. They're all short episodes there, I think maximum 20 minutes because I guess it's kind of an evolution of the episodes. We start with auditing our space and seeing where we would like to make changes. What makes us feel good. Creating like a vision board that helps you distinguish what you want to feel in your home and your spaces. The next one was all about doing a declutter and organize of different spaces. The third one was about how to keep a clean girl home. And then this one is focused on styling. So I really feel like the styling episode here is kind of like the final step. It's like the final touch. It's once you've reset a space or cleaned a space and you just want to add that beautiful final touch, this is where you're going to do it. You may or may not have ever even really thought about styling your coffee table, but trust me, it's actually really fun and it really does level up your space and give it a refresh. Definitely use things you already have and you can apply these styling tips, as I said, to shelving. So maybe shelving in your kitchen, shelving in your office, shelving throughout your house. You can use it for your dining table, centrepieces, for different dinner parties or different occasions throughout the year. Even an entryway table or a side table. Even if you've got space, bedside tables, or your bathroom vanity. You really can bring your own personal style into this and keep it in line with your vibe that you have created in the first episode with your Pinterest home edit board. So let's have some fun with styling your coffee table and shelves spaces. And let's end this home edit mini series with a bang. I wanted to start by clarifying that if you're like me and you still have little kids, which you probably are, because I feel like we're all in such a similar season of life. Just be wary that whatever you put on your coffee table or places that are in reach, it will get poked, prodded, pulled off, used, potentially eaten. I get it. But trust me, we can still make it work. My home personally is a place that I like to be lived in. So I always have the viewpoint that things can be cleaned or replaced eventually when the kids are older. For example, my couch, it may look to you on socials and in photos like it's perfectly white. And I made sure that the one that we chose was one that has removable covers, which I wash every few months. There are definitely stains on there that don't come out, and it's definitely peeled and worn and used. But I don't mind because I chose that specifically. That's in line with, like, the vision that I have for my house, but also is durable for the season of little kids, if that makes sense. I don't want to live my life constantly saying to the kids, don't do this. Don't use this within reason, of course, because I still want to teach them respect for the beautiful things that we have. So I always try and choose options that are durable, versatile, and not breakable. Or if they do break that, it's not ridiculously dangerous. For example, like glassware. I'm not going to put glassware that's easily broken within reach of the kids. I'm sure you know what I mean. But try to use things that you're not too attached to if it's in reach of the kids. Otherwise, put your beautiful things that you don't want to get broken on shelves and places that are higher out of reach. Okay, let's get into my fav tips to style your coffee table using a tray or basket. This is a great one because it means you can easily move it out of the way if you need to. At the moment, I have my coffee table styling all the things in the centerpiece in a flat basket tray that I got from Kmart. So, first of all, that was cheap. It was from Kmart. I don't mind if it gets a little bit worn and torn over time. I can pick it up really easily and move it out of the way. If the kids are eating at the coffee table or if they're doing craft at the coffee table or when I'm cleaning, it's really quick to just pick up and move. There are also some really cute scalloped timber trays from Kmart that could work or anything, really, that you have lying around as your base for styling. So you kind of need to always have a base if it's on a bigger space, like a coffee table or a dining table, because it really does help. It kind of all stay together. If it's on shelves or sideboards, it's more about putting it in clusters. It doesn't necessarily need a base to sit on. I have also, in the past, use woven placemats as my base, especially if I'm entertaining and I creating a centerpiece on a long table, I'll use, say, three placemats together, and I'll generally style the centerpiece on those placemats. Or I'll even do the exact same styling on each placemat spread over the table. For example, at Christmas time, if I'm having Christmas, I normally do a few placemats with a flower, like a vase with some flowers in each. And then I'll put, like, little decoration, a little tray with some, like, chocolates or something. You get what I mean? Make sure you choose a tray or basket that really complements your look. So are you going for elegant? Are you going for rustic? Are you going for luxurious? Do you know what I mean? Add in a texture and color. So, for example, my coffee table is white concrete. I'm not going to use a white basket or white tray because it will just get lost and it won't add depth or interest. A timber or earthy travertine style tray looks much nicer. And in my case, I've used a basket because it's having texture, it's adding color, and it just works really well. If you're looking for a more chic and elegant style. You could find a mirrored tray, which would be really nice. Or if you already have a coffee table that is glass, or maybe it's a timber, then you could definitely go for a tray that is that concrete look that they have everywhere at the moment in Kmart. You know what I'm talking about. If you're into style and decorous, adding books and magazines is a really fun way to add your personal touch and some colour or designer elements. Now, think about this as if you've got space. You'll put the books next to the basket, which the basket will then hold other things like flowers, coasters, things like that. The books might be another part of the coffee table. Or if you're thinking about shelves or, like, longer spaces, you would have your cluster of things that might be in the basket on the coffee table, and you might have your books stacked a little bit further away from that. I hope this makes sense. Please do reach out to me if you have any questions, because this all comes naturally to me, so I don't want you to get confused. Coffee table books and magazines also help create conversation when guests come over, which is really fun and they really help the living space feel homely. So you might be someone who is really into making those photo books. My dad used to do this for my kids. Every time we had a family holiday, he would get us all to send the photos and he would make a coffee table book using snapfish. Now, I don't keep them on my coffee table because I'm really particular and they're not in line with my style. But what's really beautiful is that the kids now look back on those books. And even though my dad has passed away, which I think is actually why he did it, is they now have a memory of him and they go through and they talk about it with us, and it's a really beautiful thing. I think creating coffee table books with your memories in them, you can definitely make some really aesthetically pleasing ones. So that could be a really fun thing to do if you want a little project as well. Otherwise, if you want to choose books that you just buy, make sure you choose books that are interesting to you and match your room's color scheme. At the moment in my living room, I have a pop of sage green in my space, and that's the feature. So any books on my coffee table would be earthy colors, neutrals, even with, like, gold writing or black lettering. So I'm not adding colors that will make my space feel cluttered or clash with the sage green. You can get those beautiful, huge, big books that say, like, Saint Moritz, the beautiful, different places in Europe. Again, you can find designer books and fun books in Kmart. I actually saw one this morning when I had to duck there to get some craft stuff for the kids. And it almost looked like one of those ones that I was just talking about, the architectural, like, Saint Moritz style books, the designer books. But it was called Australia, and it just had some really beautiful pictures of Australia in it. I can't remember what color it was. I think it was maybe like a baby blue. But if that's your space and it works with your space, then that could definitely be an option. They also have heaps of designer books. So, like the Chanel, the Dior, all of those style, and you could just get a few of those and stack them. That could look really cool on a shelf as well with some really nice bookends. And you could get the bookends from Kmart. You could make bookends. If you find bookends that are white, you could spray paint them gold if you like. Or if you found some timber ones, you could paint them white. You know what I mean? So be a bit creative here. So you want to make a stack. You don't want to just have one book sitting there. A few different styles and sizes. Magazines like vogue, living, breathe, and travel magazines, if that's your style, can also be nice here. So you will want to maybe just have, like, two or three books and stack them and make sure their colors complement each other as well. Your next step is to bring in some fun objects and plants. So these are the things that you're going to put together as a cluster in your basket or base or tray. So when I talk about books, it really depends on your coffee table or your space that you're using. You may not have space to put the books. That might be more of a shelving thing on my coffee table, I don't have space to put books. The books can also look really nice if you have a layered coffee table where you've got the top space that you can put your basket and cluster of decor items on. And maybe underneath you could put two stacks of books if you had a glass top, if you can imagine what I'm talking about. So now we're focusing on the fun objects and plants. You want to choose items of different heights and again, different materials to keep it really fun and interesting. So you want to keep it balanced, but not overcrowded. A small potted plant or a vase with some fresh flowers. Or you can actually find some really nice silk flowers. If you're feeling stressed about keeping real plants and flowers alive or succulents are also a really great option. Choose a pot of vase again that complements the rest of your decor. Candles are such an easy option. You can put a candle here. I like to leave a candle there that I generally don't burn because I don't want to burn it if my kids are around, but I just leave it there. A really beautiful looking one. At the moment, I think I have one that is white, but it has a gold lid, so it just adds that beautiful little gold touch and looks really luxe. Candles also add warmth and the scent helps create that atmosphere that you have in mind. For example, I love burning like a woody, musky scent in winter because it feels really cozy. In summer, you might feel like burning something that is really fresh and summery, so it really just adds to that atmosphere. Now with your plants and fun objects, you can change these up seasonally. So keeping it in line with the feeling that you're creating that season and refreshing the space and adding a bit of a different vibe every now and then. For example, over Christmas time, you might want to make it more Christmassy. I have these little Christmas bush looking fake flower plant things that I put in my vase at Christmas time, and they also have like a little gold star sticking out. It sounds really dodgy, but it actually looks really nice. And I always put that on my coffee table in around Christmas time instead of flowers or my succulent. Keep in mind how tall everything is and keeping it balanced and eye pleasing so everything doesn't have to be perfectly symmetrical. In actual case, it looks nice when there's different heights, but have a look at it and if it doesn't feel right, just kind of move it around and try and create that sense of balance. You can also search up on Pinterest coffee table styling to give you some ideas and then place things that you have that similar in your little basket or base. So, for instance, if you have a tall item on one side, balance it by grouping some shorter items next to it on the other side. You won't want to put like two tall items exactly symmetrical because it just looks too. It's not as homely, you know what I mean? It just looks too, I don't know, too perfect. I don't know what I'm trying to say, but you want it to just feel homely and relaxed. Make sure you also don't put too many things, leave some negative and empty space to prevent the table from looking cluttered. It makes sure that you're keeping in with that minimal feel and maintaining that clean girl aesthetic look that I talked about in the previous episode. So I hope that makes sense. Really, the top principles that you want to keep in mind when you're styling your spaces is creating clusters using things that you love. So maybe adding a stack of books, using a vase with some fresh plants or flowers in it. You can even take clippings from like a eucalyptus tree or an olive tree. You know what I mean? You don't have to go and spend heaps of money. Think about what you've got in nature around you that you could potentially use so that you might want to put a candle using a base to cluster items together. Maybe you want to even add a photo frame or there might be a really cute little set of coasters that you can put there. Have a think, use your creative mind, make it your own and have some fun. My final top tips for this is always keep proportions in mind. Choose items that are proportional to the size of your table shelf, console. So for example, if you've got a really huge dining table, like 2 meters, you don't want to put a really tiny little vase or candle on there by itself. It's going to look lost. I am all for the oversized vessels. If you follow me on instagram, you'll see I love having like a huge vase in the middle of my dining table or a huge vase on my kitchen bench. Keep it proportional in saying that you don't want to have a huge vase sitting on your bedside table because then you'll have no space to actually put the things that need to go there. So always think of the function as well. Regularly refresh, so change these items up periodically to keep the table looking fresh and keeping it exciting for you so seasonally is a really great way. I love doing this because it's exciting. I get really excited when we're switching over from winter to spring and I like to do a bit of a refresh of my interior styling. And as I said, leave room for function like sitting down a cup of coffee or a remote control or space for the kids to eat or your iPhone or whatever it is. So just keep all of that in mind. And by following these little tips, guys, I'm sure, I'm 100% sure that you're going to create a little coffee table display, shelf display, bedside table display that is stylish, functional, and absolutely reflects your beautiful personal style and helps bring in that vibe that you have created on your home edit pinterest board. I can't wait to see what you do here. Please send me a little pic of what you do. I would love to see it. I really, really hope that you enjoyed this home edit mini series, especially if you've been doing it alongside me in the school holidays. It's been really fun. It's given me a little bit of motivation to just refresh my space and I hope it's done the same to you. If you loved it, please let me know so I can keep creating this type of content. Leave me a review or send me a voiceie or DM on instagram or wherever you are because I would absolutely love to hear from you. Thank you so much guys. Enjoy refreshing editing, decluttering, and styling and I will see you next week as we get back into normal program for inspired to be.