Style Your Summer Coffee Table Now with Greenery and Vintage Accents

Looking to give your living room a fresh, seasonal update? You can style your summer coffee table now with simple greenery and vintage accents. It’s one of the easiest ways to instantly brighten your space.

If you want to enjoy a relaxing spot for your morning coffee or evening glass of wine, a beautifully styled coffee table sets the tone for the whole room.

In this post, I’ll show you how to style a summer coffee table using lush greenery, vintage accents, and a few simple decor tricks.

You’ll find inspiring ideas that are easy to recreate and budget-friendly. You can add your own personality to your home, using accessories that you have on hand.

This summer, coffee table styling will have your guests asking, “How did you do that?” Let’s create a look you’ll love all season long!

Summer Coffee Table Styling for a Pinterest Challenge

This month’s Pinterest Challenge, hosted by my sweet Texas friend, Cindy of County Road 407, is perfectly timed for the beginning of summer decorating.

As I’ve mentioned on Bluesky at Home many times, coffee tables are one of the best places to update your home decor each season. It’s a major focal point in your living or family room. A newly styled coffee table instantly gives your room a fresh feel.

Cindy chose a lovely summer coffee table styled by Beth of Home Stories A to Z. When I saw Beth’s coffee table, I knew it was one that I could use as inspiration for my own summer look. And you can, too.

The purpose of the monthly Pinterest Challenge is to use an image Cindy discovers on Pinterest as inspiration to style our own homes. Isn’t that what we use Pinterest for? Discovery and inspiration?

Before we dive into how I styled my summer coffee table using Beth’s as inspiration, I want to welcome you from Diane of South House Design and her ideas for styling a coffee table.

This post contains affiliate links to products used to create this project. If you should order any item from this site, I may receive compensation, but you do not pay a penny more. Your purchase is greatly appreciated as it helps support the continued publication of this site.

Elements in This Summer Styled Coffee Table

Beth’s design aesthetic is different from mine. Her living room is much more neutral and casual than my traditional style with color. She also uses a neutral wood and fabric-topped ottoman as her coffee table. My coffee table is brushed brass and glass.

But that’s perfectly O.K. It’s the elements that she uses in designing her coffee table that I was excited about.

Here are the elements that Beth uses:

• coffee table books – one the best decorative accessories ever. I have dozens of them and many were already on my coffee table.
• a large wood tray in a neutral color – I had recently found a neutral water hyacinth tray with an interesting scalloped edge that I couldn’t wait to use.
• vase with greenery – Beth used a glass vase with a rope handle. I have a similar one, but instead, I used two different types of containers with fresh greenery.
• magnifying glass – I used my vintage magnifying glass that I’ve had for decades.
• candle – I used a candle that a friend gave to me from Voluspa in the Wildflowers scent.
• wood beads in a ceramic/stone container – I had the perfect container – a stone vase that I bought several years ago at an estate sale. I also had wood beads that I made and have used multiple times in my home decor. Wood beads can be used in any season except Christmas – unless you paint them red or green!

Since I had every accessory to style my coffee table, it didn’t take me long to gather my “ingredients” and begin styling.

TIP: I always encourage you to gather your “ingredients” before beginning the styling project. It makes the process go faster.

My Coffee Styling Process

As a former teacher and cooking instructor, my nature is to take you step-by-step through my thought processes as I design a vignette for my home. Then it becomes a learning process that you can use in your styling projects.

TIP: Before beginning to style your coffee table, clear off current decor and clean your coffee table.

Foundation Items

I had two foundation pieces for my rectangular table: the tray and the coffee table books. These items “ground the space”.

Several weeks ago, I had thought about buying a raw wood scalloped tray and painting it, but when I saw this water hyacinth tray, I couldn’t resist it. It’s a generous 17 X 13 inches. It’s reasonably priced and I knew I would get a lot of use out of it.

I’m kind of a coffee table book junkie and there are always some on the top of the coffee table and a bunch on the bottom shelf.

A stack of coffee table books in shades of blue filled out the other end of the table.

TIP: Coffee table books can be pricy, but they are a purchase that keeps on giving. Not only do they have beautiful photography and valuable information, but their covers are like artwork that can be rearranged as you like. Shop estate sales for used ones in good condition.

The ones on the table are Living with Blue and White and Design in the Hamptons.

Add the First Greenery Accent

I had stopped at Trader Joe’s for some green plants that I could use in my summer coffee table vignette and then plant in the backyard.

I saw this beautiful lavender plant and knew it would be a lovely addition to my coffee table. The color, shape, and scent would work in the living room. I love the scent of lavender and it does well outside in our Texas heat.

The planter is one that I purchased at a charity luncheon in April. I loved the shape, the design, and the soft green color. Although it has color, the shade is so soft that it comes off as neutral.

For a little more height, I added another book, part of a series, called Hydrangeas.

Then, I realized that with the third book, I didn’t have space for the magnifying glass. Bye-bye book, hello vintage magnifying glass.

I have no idea where or when I bought this old magnifying glass. I have used it in multiple houses, vignettes and places in our homes over the years. It was old when I bought it and had a chip in the glass. This magnifying glass has a vintage look and would work in your home decor.

Fill in the Woven Tray and Add Neutrals

The water hyacinth tray was the other major element. I love the natural texture and weave of this basket tray.

To the tray, I added:

• a stone vase – one of my favorite pieces, toward the back of the tray. Again, the natural material, shape, and color of the vase create interest.
• wood beads – another versatile decor accessory and wood beads are so easy to make yourself. You can drape them down the side of a vase as I did here, lay them on a surface, or use them to fill a bowl. To be honest, they are so affordable, it’s almost easier to buy wood beads with tassels like this one.
• two small books in shades of white, cream, and taupe toward the front of the tray.

NOTE: At this point, I also realized that the direction of the tray should be changed. That little change made a positive difference.

Adding Color to the Summer Vignette

Here is where I deviated from Beth’s totally neutral palette. As a lover of all things blue, especially chinsoiserie pieces, it was natural for me to bring that color into my summer coffee table design.

On the scalloped tray, I added a small chinoisierie planter filled with another Trader Joe’s buy – a small Boston fern. It fit perfectly in the blue and white planter.

The final addition was the white Voluspa candle. The white gives the vignette a nice pop to contrast with the neutral tray, stone vase, and books.

That is how easy it is to style a summer coffee table with greenery and vintage accessories with a neutral backdrop.

Although I liked the green planter on the scalloped tray, I decided to switch the green planter and the chinoiserie planter.

TIP: Don’t hesitate to “tweak” your coffee table. Moving elements will either result in an improved arrangement or confirm your original efforts.

It was obvious that the blue and white planter was too small in scale for that side of the coffee table.

Two seconds later, I switched them back. I liked the contrast in height from one side to the other. Which version do you like better? In this case, I think it is personal preference.

Do you notice the pillows? Nola loves to push the pillows off the sofa. My housekeeper was here the day I was styling the coffee table, and I didn’t notice where she placed the pillows until I was editing the photos. It’s fixed now.

I like that the summer coffee table looks good from both sides.

I created this coffee table styling guideline for you.

Summer Coffee Table Overview

I hope that you enjoyed joining me in the process of styling a summer coffee table. Here’s a synopsis of the coffee table:

• use of natural elements for the foundation of the design, such as books and a tray
• use of neutral elements, such as a woven tray, a stone vase, books, and glass candle
• include textures for interest, such as the woven basket, stone vase, glass candle, and softness of green plants
• pops of color, such as a blue planter, white candle, books, and green plants
• use of varying heights for interest
• keeping different elements in scale with each other
• including personal vintage items, such as a magnifying glass and a vintage stone vase

Here are more summer coffee table ideas to inspire you: 11 Tips Coffee Table Styling Ideas and Makeover for Spring Coffee Table.

Now let’s see what other coffee table ideas for summer the other participants of our Pinterest Challenge have to share. Please begin with our hostess, Cindy of County Road 407.

What a great way to kick off summer. Don’t forget to PIN this coffee table post to your relevant Pinterest Boards. Mine are: Summer Decor, Home Decor, and Living Room Ideas.