Designers Are Swapping Overdone Coffee Table Clichés for These Fresh 2026 Trends That Add Personality, Not Predictability

From oversized trays to layers of trinkets, this year's coffee table trends are all about adding personality and avoiding the overdone tropes

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Living room with built-in tv unit with bookshelves, blue sectional sofa, coffee table and striped armchair
(Image credit: Aimée Mazzenga)
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Whether it's scattered with antiques or left bare with a lacquer tray at its center, coffee tables are more than just vessels for holding your coffee or current reading rotation; they're the perfect canvas for exhibiting trends and showing off your tastes and style as a decorator.

Once limited to all the usual essentials, coffee table styling has changed (for the better). A central spot that makes your highly prized pieces the star of the show, coffee tables are the perfect canvas for embracing today's trends and making an artful and eye-catching statement.

1. Ditch the Design Books for Meaningful Trinkets

Living room with grasscloth walls, velvet brown sofa, marble round table and antique stool with bookshelves with antiques in background

A transitional living room features a marble coffee table, lovingly decorated with meaningful trinkets like framed photographs and keepsakes.

(Image credit: Graham Yelton)

'Lately, I’ve noticed coffee tables feeling a bit more personal and less overly styled,' says Interior designer Paloma Contreras. 'There’s a return to warmth and collected layers rather than perfectly curated vignettes. I’m seeing more organic materials, sculptural objects, and a mix of old and new. Fewer stacks of matching books and more meaningful pieces that tell a story and are more personal to the homeowner.'

Whether you're decorating with vintage pieces or personal possessions collected over your travels, adding special objects to your tabletop will only add to its charm. Katie explains, 'Vintage and antique cache pots, pewter frames, small sculptures, and tea caddies are much more fitting for today’s thoughtful interiors. I love combing through my clients' “junk drawers” and attics looking for a family heirloom that has been tossed aside and repurposing it into the most beautiful vignette.'

Designer Vanessa Chaverri-Gratz agrees, 'Honestly, I think of my coffee table the way some people think of their refrigerator growing up. The fridge used to showcase your life, where you had been, what you were proud of, and little memories. My coffee table does that now. It is a place to showcase places I have travelled, things I have collected, and pieces that mean something to me.'

2. Embrace Soft Cocktail Ottomans Over Hard Corners

Pale pink panelled living room with velvet green sofa, large painting and velvet ottoman

A velvet cocktail ottoman brings an added layer of softness to this plush living room, perfect for when guests are over.

(Image credit: Future)

You might have asked yourself, 'Does a living room need a coffee table?' when posed with committing to a hard-edged piece of furniture. However, what you might not have considered are the equally stylish, on-trend alternative: cocktail ottomans.

Whether it's kept simple and bare or decorated with a few essential objects on a lacquer tray, these charmingly soft ottomans are typically upholstered and on the plusher side, perfect for adding some warmth and coziness into your scheme.
Interior designer Mary Beth Sullivan of MB Sullivan Design says, 'Vintage trunks and cocktail ottomans (upholstered coffee tables) are two coffee table trends we are seeing pop up in the living room.'

Mary adds, 'An upholstered ottoman requires a solid tray or a collection of large coffee table books so that you have a sturdy surface for a drink. We love this look because it is beautiful, but also so comfortable to put your feet up on. Bonus: also no hard corners for small kids to run into! The upholstered look is also fun because it introduces another opportunity to bring in a fabric.'

3. Fill The Whole Area Rather Than Float the Decor

english country decorated living room with soft yellow walls and a leather ottoman decorated with a large foliage display by french doors with floral curtains

A maximalist's dream, this leather-bound coffee table is covered in decorations, from stacks of books to a statement floral arrangement.

(Image credit: Sims Hilditch)

Since loud luxury has taken center stage (and its subtler counterpart, quiet luxury, has taken a back seat), characterful coffee tables seem to be everywhere. Covered in decor from head to toe, these coffee tables feature artful layers of objects, commanding attention as soon as you enter the room.

Vanessa explains, 'One coffee table trend I am really noticing is what I would call an intentionally full coffee table. Almost like how you would style a bookshelf. Lots of layers, lots of personality. Stacks of books, candles, small objects, art pieces, things you have collected.'

'I love a coffee table where you are not quite sure where to look first. It feels rich and lived in. For me, books are the foundation. I love heavy, beautiful books of all kinds. Design, travel, vintage volumes with worn spines. I stack them, layer them, and keep them accessible. They are there to be flipped through, but also to be used. I am totally fine with someone setting a coffee on a book. In my house, the stacks often double as coasters. It is styled, but it is not precious.'

4. Decorate with the Unique and Unexpected

Living room with wooden ceiling and skylights, green tiled fireplace and trunk coffee table

Bringing a lived-in rustic charm, this modern living room comes together with one heroic piece of furniture – a vintage trunk.

(Image credit: Designers: Woodward Throwbacks
Photographer: Gerard Belevender)

Coffee table trends aren't limited to tables; in fact, trunks are the new way to showcase your most beloved decorations and house go-to evening essentials that you can reach for from the comfort of your couch.

Mary explains, 'Vintage trunks are easy to style because they already have so much patina and visual interest. They are not precious objects that need to be protected from watermarks. It is part of their charm.'

With plenty of history, trunks bring a layer of lived-in comfort and depth to a scheme that can be applied to all styles of spaces, not just traditional living rooms. Whether it's a minimalist living room layered with neutral tones or an already characterful sitting room covered in vibrant prints and colors, the older your trunk, the better. Mary adds, 'With both of these trends, we tend to lean towards minimal styling on a coffee table. A few books, coasters, a candle, and flowers. Less is really more. Allow the design of the table to be front and center.'

5. Incorporate Textured Materials Like Burl Wood

Living room with a large fireplace with antique horse painting and sconces above, two green velvet armchairs, wooden coffee table with books, candles and antique decor

Vanessa's retro burl wood coffee table is decorated with antique trinkets and books, exuding timeless luxury and warmth.

(Image credit: Vanessa Chaverri-Gratz)

In 2025, we were met with the burl wood trend, a revival of the once-loved material that had the 1970s in a chokehold. Imprinted with a distinct patterned surface, burl wood strikes a balance between modern and lived-in, making it a popular coffee table choice for living rooms today.

With plenty of depth, burl wood's characterful markings make it a clever choice for a scheme in need of some contrast. Able to feel luxurious like marble yet warm like wood, a coffee table made from burl wood is a clever canvas for a mixture of decor.

Whether it's a low, midcentury-inspired table or an Art Deco burl wood design with a free-flowing shape, it's a clever material for creating visual contrast, achieved by layering a multitude of objects, from silver trays to rustic vases.

6. Say Goodbye to Matte Finishes and Choose Shiny Lacquer Instead

Red and black lacquer coffee table with olive green velvet curved sofa

With a red lacquer top and sleek black frame, this sophisticated lacquer coffee table brings a contemporary feel to this luxury living room.

(Image credit: The Lacquer Company)

The recent love of lacquer is no secret. A quick and impactful way to add some contrast and vibrancy to a corner, the lacquer trend has firmly made its way into 2026. While charming decorations are one way to hop on board the lacquer movement, a smooth, shiny coffee table will make set the tone of a living space and create an eye-catching statement.

David and Sarah Ross, Co-Founders of Addison Ross, comment, 'Lacquerware is a great way of achieving this brighter, mood-boosting look as it stands as a playful yet cohesive way to introduce more vibrant tones, without them seeming out of place. Its glossy finish not only adds depth and intrigue, but also brings a contemporary edge that seamlessly complements the more classic pieces already present within a home.'

While a lacquer coffee table might be too much of a statement for your tastes, that's not to say you can't scatter smaller doses of lacquer on your tabletop. David and Sarah add, 'We love using our large orange ottoman lacquered tray as a striking centrepiece on a coffee table – it not only catches the eye but also keeps essentials like TV remotes neatly organised. This works especially well in a more neutral room, allowing the vibrant orange shade of the lacquer to truly stand out and make an impact.'

A place to embrace all your favorite trends, coffee tables are blank canvases waiting to be decorated. Vanessa says, 'My advice is not to be afraid to take up space on your coffee table. There is no rule that says you only get one candle or one book. If you love books, the more the merrier. If you love objects, display them. Use your coffee table as a place to style pieces you are proud of and actually want to live with. The best coffee tables are the ones that evolve and get used.'

Eleanor Richardson
Eleanor Richardson
Interior Design Content Editor