About five years ago I decided to turn our more formal living room into a second family room. We don’t have a big house, and the biggest room in our house (the living room) was sitting empty and unused all the time. I bought a black distressed console and a big TV, and had visions of grandeur about styling around the TV and decorating the console. Well, five years later, it has finally happened. Better late than never, right? 😉 I was dying to get something on the walls, and in desperate need to organize this space since it is right in our entryway, so I headed to HomeGoods to find the perfect lamp and accessories. Here are some tips and console table decorating ideas to help you get started on your own console table decor.
When I am styling any space I do everything I can to make it as personal as possible, without it looking like your high school memory box threw up in your room. I want it to be organized, functional and beautiful, but also have special meaning to the home owner. By displaying souvenirs from a favorite vacation, meaningful family heirlooms, an antique book that is a personal favorite, a framed family picture, you are making the space meaningful. I have tailored the way I souvenir shop now to fit my love of functional and beautiful design. Instead of picking up another tacky souvenir, I look for something that will hold meaning to me, but look nice in my home. Recently when we were in Amsterdam I visited a beautiful little boutique. They had all kinds of pretty little mercury glass bowls, the perfect size to hold jewelry on my dresser. I picked one up and display it proudly in my room now. Other people don’t necessarily know it’s a souvenir because it fits seamlessly into my design, but to me, it holds memories of and represents a wonderful week spent in a beautiful country with my family.
Isn’t that task lamp from HomeGoods great? The lines on it are interesting and fun and it adds great height to the table, as well as illuminates an otherwise dark corner in the room.
Any room in your home that is actually lived in, has to be functional or it will never be beautiful. Our family room is home to blankets for snuggling to watch movies, remotes, cable boxes, dvds, toys…all the things that make a space usable for us. While these things are all part of our normal, everyday life, they also aren’t very nice to look at. That is where the functional part of the design comes in. For instance, I know that our piano collects pencils and erasers where the kids mark up their music, so instead of staring at them all the time, I bought a cute bone box to put on top of the piano. It looks pretty and hides messes. That is my kind of design. When you are styling your console, think of what always collects there…keys, mail, remotes…what is it? The trick is to find a creative and beautiful way to hide those every day messes. Trays for remotes, a pretty lidded container for keys, etc….all of these things look pretty, but keep clutter in order. Another tip…make these things easy to access and utilize. I added that straw basket from HomeGoods next to our console for all the blankets that collect in that room while the kids watch TV. I purposely bought a large one with a lid so that kids don’t have to worry about folding the blankets to put them away, they can easily throw them in when they are done using them. Thanks to the lid, I don’t have to look at a messy pile of blankets all the time and everything looks neat and orderly.
Mix in a few other decorative items that maybe aren’t functional or meaningful but are just fun. Pieces that you love because of their size, shape or color that make you happy. Avoid creating a cluttered space by choosing just your very favorite items to display. Remember to take advantage of the wall space and any space underneath or next to the console table too when you are decorating. It’s a great place for a gallery wall to display photos, a large mirror, a few baskets for additional storage or poufs and chairs for additional seating. I love this mid century modern chair that I found at HomeGoods.
Create one or two stacks of books (oversize design books work well) and decorative boxes. These will allow you to add in accents and create varying heights. Don’t worry about symmetry…a little mixing and matching will create a more interesting feel. Bring in interesting pieces to break up all the straight lines created by the table, the TV or artwork etc. Something like an antique bread bowl brings in a warm, natural element and can be used to collect keys and items from pockets.
Give your console table decor a bit of life and mix in the Pantone color of the year by adding in some fresh greenery for color and softness. I like to find house plants that need very little attention. I do not have much of a green thumb and can kill a cactus. 😉 In the remaining nooks and crannies between larger accent pieces and on top of your books, group smaller treasures and place them around. They look best gathered in groupings of three. You can’t do this incorrectly. Just have fun playing and mixing things in until it looks right to you.
I can’t wait to see what you create! Enjoy your newly organized and styled space!
Tammy
**I received a gift card from HomeGoods that I used to purchase several items mentioned in this post**
Fantastic tips! I love looking at home decor, and while all the styled pictures look great, sometimes they are completely unrealistic from a functional perspective. I love how you pulled form and function together to make a realistic and beautiful space. Now I need to figure out when to go to HomeGoods and get myself a basket for all our blankets…they’re completely taking over!
So glad to know that we aren’t the only ones with a blanket explosion in the house! 😉