Coffee Table Clutter

[Float On]

I was dusting the living room and the old trunk (DH's grandmother's) that we use as a coffee table and was curious if you have one, what is it and what is in or on it.

Old trunk. Inside is my wedding dress (I'll probably make wedding pillows or baby christening gowns out of it at some point....or donate it).
On top is a greens and blues scarf used as a runner made in an African village a friend does mission work in. Then on top of the runner is a long pottery tray filled with rocks, gems, shark teeth, petrified ancient horse bones, dinosaur bones, a small round shades of blue glass oil lamp (made by DH) and the smallish antlers from the first deer my dad shot when he was a boy and at the opposite end a cute aqua blue old manual typewriter. The boys friends love leaving notes on it. And then there are two coasters I crocheted to try and keep drink rings at bay.

What's on your coffee table?

[Tussiemussies]

Just a small oval table with a red quilted placemat with a vase of fake hydrangeas that look pretty real. Two pretty white stone coasters. I like the cottage country feeling but I don't have a lot of things around the house, except for my messy bedroom which I am working to be very neat etc.

[iris lilies]

We don't have a coffee table because we would just trip over it. Instead, we have several small stack tables and a wicker table by a chair. I just pulled in this wicker table from the alley and I'm just trying it out. It's got a slanted shelf for books, I like that. On it is the clutter of stuff I use when I sit in that chair: hand lotion, cleaning cloth for eye glasses, extra eye glasses, tweezers, bookmarks, pens, note paper. Then, there are usually 2 or 3 books plus a couple of magazines on it.

This winter I plan to better organize our living room, and I want to make up a box for the "stuff" that permanently resides on this wicker table so that when picking up for company I can sweep all of this little stuff into the box and put the box in the secretary.While I like the design of the free wicker table, I hate the wavy surface. Not sure if I'll keep it.

[lessisbest]

We've used a variety of things over the years in different homes we've lived in, like traditional coffee tables and my great-grandfather's trunk for awhile. We even used the pine bench hubby made in woodworking class when he was a Freshman in high school, which still graces a side wall at the entrance where you can easily sit down to remove shoes when you come into the house.

We now have a padded footstool (16"x32") that has a hinged top. Inside we keep our throws/blankets we use when we watch TV (we keep our house cold in the winter). This has been our favorite because you can't really place anything on it except our feet, and it's large enough for two people. Never any clutter on it. Since we float the sectional in the living room, we have a sofa table behind the sectional. It has a pretty tray that holds the remotes for easy access. The sofa table is also where I switch out seasonal decorations.

[bekkilyn]

No coffee table. I have a brass side table from Morocco that currently has a chime fountain and a plant on it, but the rest is primarily a small futon, TV with Kinect, and a black, interlocking foam mat that takes up most of the room for exercising. A coffee table would just get in the way of that purpose.

[catherine]

No coffee table: Ottoman.

The only clutter that is on it occasionally is a black hairy dog.

[Miss Cellane]

I have a round coffee table with a shelf underneath and two drawers under the shelf.

The top of the coffee table has three candles on a tray, and a brass bowl filled with old snapshots. The shelf has two picture frames with old photos that I change out every so often, a small digital thermometer, a small clock, and some old photo albums.

The drawers were supposed to be for the remotes, but that didn't work as planned. So one drawer has all the manuals for the tv and various associated boxes, and the other has decks of cards and small toys that visiting nieces and nephews can entertain themselves with, plus some extra coasters in case of company.

The stuff that Iris Lilies keeps on her wicker table is very similar to what I keep in a little canvas tote on the floor next to my chair--hand lotion, chap stick, nail file, glasses cleaner, assorted pens and pencils, note pad. Then, on the side table on the other side, is a basket that holds all the remotes, plus the passwords necessary to link everything to the wifi, and instructions on how to get the Blu-Ray remote to turn the tv on--that has to be reset every time we change the batteries.

[SteveinMN]

One of those rectangular coffee-table-with-a-top-that-raises (DW's). It has the requisite basket containing remotes for the electronica across the room, a couple of DW's candles, and a piece of sculpture. It often has a lunch or dinner plate on it, as well. It also will have paper bills I'm paying or papers I need to bring on my next errand, but they don't stay long.

[iris lilies]

Oh yes, the remote controllers. They sit on the table spas well.

[IshbelRobertson]

Large camphor wood chest, bought by my parents when my Dad was in the army, based in Singapore. The lid is hinged and inside is my small sewing box (I HATE sewing!), my tapestry equipment, my knitting supplies.

On the top are two pieces of art pottery, one a wide bowl, the other a vase.

The matching chest is on a turn of the stairs abd has bedding, pillows and spare duvets.

[pinkytoe]

Glass and wood table inherited from my mother. Nothing on it but an occasional Siamese cat and their hair.

[Radicchio]

The coffee table has one shelf and two drawers under the table top. On top, a square tray which contains a small plant and a few coasters. In the drawers, a few magazines that we are reading currently. (TV remote is in the armoire with the TV.)

[Radicchio]

Pinkytoe, Nothing accents a coffee table better than a cat! I also love walking up to a house and seeing a cat in the window.

[rodeosweetheart]

Coffee table is kept bare, which invites occasional feet, terrier, or Scrabble board to perch there.

[Geila]

Living room: rectangular mission-style table with potted ficus, round basket for books, measuring tape, pens, pencils, calculator, etc. This table gets lots of use by feet being rested while we lounge on the sofa and as a racetrack by the cavorting dogs. The kittens enjoy resting on the bottom shelf and watching the dogs race by.

TV room: large ottoman, used for resting feet, lounging dogs, dog toys, cat-napping, dog-napping, and a platform for modified dog wrestling (boxer keeps back legs on floor and can "box" the poodle mix as he stands on the ottoman).

[rosarugosa]

We use an old steamer trunk as well. Since the couch is DH's territory, I don't totally try to "pretty up" what is on the trunk, just a little bit. There's a tray and some books and some little ornamental boxes. There's a round metal thing that looks vaguely apple-like where I stash DH's flotsam and jetsam.

[Mary B.]

Handmade old wooden trunk with feet -- looks a bit like a family heirloom and is but not our family's. (A former tenant gave it to us.) On the surface usually a newspaper and/or a book. Sometimes a basset hound -- she likes to sit there. We have another small wooden trunk made by my father at the corner between couch and loveseat -- that one tends to have a book, a basket with my current knitting or other craft project and a coffee cup.

Iris Lily, I've seen people put a tray on a coffee table surface for the miscellaneous stuff you describe. Maybe that would work for your wavy wicker surface? A tray of the right size would give you a non-wavy surface and could easily be picked up and put elsewhere when you have guests. Just a thought.

[iris lilies]

Handmade old wooden trunk with feet -- looks a bit like a family heirloom and is but not our family's. (A former tenant gave it to us.) On the surface usually a newspaper and/or a book. Sometimes a basset hound -- she likes to sit there. We have another small wooden trunk made by my father at the corner between couch and loveseat -- that one tends to have a book, a basket with my current knitting or other craft project and a coffee cup.

Iris Lily, I've seen people put a tray on a coffee table surface for the miscellaneous stuff you describe. Maybe that would work for your wavy wicker surface? A tray of the right size would give you a non-wavy surface and could easily be picked up and put elsewhere when you have guests. Just a thought.

That is an excellent idea! I will havebtomthinkmabout that one. Thank you!

[Teacher Terry]

IL: i keep a pretty basket on my end table that holds all the stuff you mentioned. It looks neat & I can reach everything from my chair. On my coffee table I have a nice linen with 1 decorative bowl & a few coasters.

[kib]

Southwestern wooden chest with hinged lids, it's big, maybe 3*4, and sits in the corner between the chair and couch. Very distressed finish. It's as tall as an end table, so convenient for setting coffee cups etc. Throw blankets for winter and guest linens are inside it along with surge protector strip so I can plug in devices while I'm sitting on the couch. Cats have their own fish tank for a water dish, that's the only permanent thing on top. The furniture reclines, so a coffee table would be in the way.

It hinges in the middle and has two lids, so I can get into it without removing what's on top, very convenient. I also have an African basket for the miscellanea, sits either beside the chest or inside it.

[freshstart]

we have a leather ottoman but it is as long as the couch so it is our coffee table. I am minimalist with decor, I put out a few knick knacks just so it looks like people live here. In my house, the only thing on the ottoman was a game we were playing, kid feet and a dog or two. Now it has tons of magazines that my dad reads and leaves for my mom, same with daily paper. Well, that would be fine except she is extremely ill, the most she ever reads is part of a newspaper and not every day. So the pile gets bigger, the dogs jump up on it, everything goes everywhere. I recycle the pile when no one is looking. A wooden tray with sides works well for serving food

[pony mom]

My coffee table is a wooden trunk, a kit from Yield House I got many years ago, that I assembled, stained and finished. At the moment, my legs and my laptop are on it. It holds my riding clothes, neatly folded a la The Kondo Method. My knees always have bruises on them because I keep the chest close to the couch, putting it in the way when I walk out from behind it.

I also have a small end table next to my loveseat, much more cluttered. A framed photo, a small lamp, coasters, a pen, extra reading glasses on the top. On one shelf, a small box that holds my mouse and headphones, leaving room for two remotes and a small accordian folder (got tired of floating bits of paper so they're filed away in here now).

Bottom shelf holds my laptop, which I now always put in its case. I'm telling you, Marie Kondo has really changed my life. Things now get put away immediately instead of being piled up til later, my surfaces aren't cluttered (except the end table), my closet and drawers are neater and I love everything.

[ToomuchStuff]

If I ever get a couch again, I think rather then a coffee table, I would like an ottoman. The ones I grew up with had internal storage, were small enough to not collect stuff, and you could put your feet or a plate on. (coffee tables we got in trouble for putting up our feet)

I do have an old trunk though, inherited and I haven't gone through it in a long time. What it has is a lot of the old family history (photo's and such). I know 90% of it, no one in the family was interested in (I was due to it being the normal side of the family, rather then the side I learned too much about).
This brings up something I should post about.