Tables, Tops and Toppings

I was doing a little clean up in the living room and rearranging of accessories and I wanted to share what works for me when styling my table tops.  I like having having different types of tables and cabinets for different functions but I also want them to look nice while serving their purpose, that's where the toppings come in.  My favorite table top toppings are plants, I have one on almost every horizontal surface.  They are beautiful, add color, texture, natural elements and they also help clean the air.  When styling my table tops I like to keep things simple so it doesn't look too cluttered.  Plus, why would I want an end table that's so cluttered I can't even put my glass of wine on it?  I have learned that working in odd numbers and using variation of heights and textures looks best and keeps the eyes moving.

The purpose of my console table is to hold a lamp for extra lighting in the evening and a fan for my husband who is Super Hotttt!!! Ehem, I mean, he gets hot from the heat and stuff.  Anyways, so I have my pretty pineapple looking lamp and a nice metal fan on opposite ends of the table to kind of balance out each other.

But if I had only those two things on top it would look pretty empty, so on the center of the console I added a small stack of books with my pretty brass rhino on top, a small plant on one side and a picture of my daughters on the other side.  I am trying to add pictures around the house, this is something that I am working on because I am really bad at remembering to frame pictures and finding a spot to display them.  Under the console I put a big plant to cover the outlet plug and somewhat disguise the wires from the lamp and fan which I know I can do better but it's good enough for now.

The white wicker and brass side table in between the chairs is my roadside find that you can read about here. It is the perfect spot for setting a drink on top of and to place a tablet or phone on top of while they are charging.  I only put a pretty little jade plant on top since I need the top to place those other things.

Next to the couch I have a long end table with a little drawer and a basket underneath for extra storage.  This table has a really big surface that I love.  I can place a drink and a plate with a snack if I need to.  I have two beautiful plants on top of this table that really seem to thrive in this spot so this has been a permanent spot for them for a couple months now.  The lamp is great for when I'm curled up on the chaise reading a good book. This is definitely my favorite spot in the living room.  The basket holds my daughters favorite board game and a back massaging device.   They are not pretty, which is why they are hidden away in the basket but we use them regularly, so we still have easy access to them.  In the drawer I stash the chargers for our electronics when not in use.

The coffee table has many uses so I try not to have to many things on top of it.  We use it to put our feet up, place drinks, appetizers, snacks, board games, I sometimes fold laundry on it too.  I keep a wooden bowl with the remotes in it, a book or two, a box of wooden blocks for the girls to keep entertained and surprise a plant!  The coffee table gets really heavy use in our house.

On each side of the fireplace I have two storage cabinets to hide things like electronic devices, video games, dvds, photo boxes and miscellaneous books.  I have my other pineapple looking lamp on top of one of the cabinets with a plant next to it.  I only have two things on this one, which means I didn't follow my "odd number rule" but rules were meant to be broken, right!  I just went with it because I am not sure what I want to put on it right now, no big deal.

 The other cabinet has a big ole circle decorative Item to balance out the lamp on the other side, a picture of my girls and a large decorative chess piece.  This might be the only place I don't have a plant on top of at the moment.  

The mantle is hard for me to decorate because of the TV.  We obviously don't want things obstructing the view when we are watching it so I had to decorate high on the sides and low on the bottom of the TV.  I have a large Buddha on one edge and a medium size plant on the other edge with a big wooden hand sculpture in the middle.

 The wood hand has always been my favorite piece, it has been on the mantle since we moved here, but now it is also a sentimental piece because it was a gift from my aunt who recently passed away.  I miss her so much and having things around that remind me of her is very important to me.  

So what toppings do I like on my table tops?  Plants, lamps, sentimental items, pretty to me things, and only a little bit sprinkled here and there, not too many because I need to leave space for my drink!

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