How to Style a Console Table: Lamps, Mirrors, Trays and What to Leave Off

A console table is the first thing people see when they walk into your home, and it is the piece most likely to end up as a dumping ground for post, keys and carrier bags. Styled well, it makes a hallway feel finished in a way no other single piece of furniture does. The good news is that it takes very few things to get it right.

Here is how to do it, from the wall down.

Start with the wall

A console table on its own against a bare wall looks unfinished, because it is low and long and the eye wants something above it. A mirror is the classic choice in a hallway: it bounces light around a space that rarely has much, and it is useful on the way out of the door. Art works too, and suits a living room better.

Two measurements make the difference:

• Width. Aim for something around two thirds of the width of the table. Much wider overpowers it; much narrower looks lost.
• Height. Leave a gap of around 15cm to 25cm between the table top and the bottom of the frame, so the two read as one arrangement. Most mirrors are hung too high.

Our consoles stand between 75cm and 85cm high, so that gap puts the bottom of the mirror at roughly 90cm to 110cm from the floor.

The working layer

Before anything decorative, give the table its jobs. In a hallway that is two things:

• A lamp. A hallway is often lit by a single ceiling light, which is harsh. A table lamp on the console gives a warm light to come home to. Our table lamp guide covers sizes and shades.
• Somewhere for keys. A bowl or a tray. Without one, keys, coins and receipts spread across the whole top within a week.

Then style it: tall, medium, low

Once the lamp and the tray are in place, add one or two pieces that vary in height:

• Tall: the lamp, a vase of branches, or a tall candlestick.
• Medium: a short stack of books, a framed photograph, a sculptural object.
• Low: the tray or bowl.

Group them rather than spreading them evenly along the top. An arrangement at one end with clear space at the other looks deliberate; six evenly spaced objects look like a shop shelf. Leave roughly a third of the top clear.

Underneath

The space under a console is often wasted, and it is where the clutter can go.

• A lower shelf. The Ancuta, the Beaumont and the Fitzroy each have one. A pair of matching baskets turns it into a home for shoes, gloves and dog leads.
• An open frame. Consoles like the Upney, with its gold lattice, or the Bankside, on open black supports, are about the floor showing through. Leave it clear and the hall feels wider.

Style it to suit the table

Different consoles want different treatment.

Sculptural and fluted. The Belgravia, with its fluted disc base, and the Mayfair range, on a fluted oval pedestal, are the decoration. Keep the top spare: a lamp and one object is enough, so the base still gets the attention.

Long and rustic. At 160cm, the Cotswold suits a pair of lamps, one at each end, and the 180cm Hoxton can take a pair with a large mirror or two pieces of art between them. Symmetry suits a long table.

Storage consoles. With the Fitzroy's sliding tambour doors or the Beaumont's two drawers, the clutter lives inside, so the top can be kept almost bare. That is the whole point of choosing one.

Glass. The Adrienne is made from a single curve of tempered glass, so everything on it is visible from every angle, including from below. Keep it to two or three pieces, and expect to polish it more than any other table.

Marble-effect. A white marble-effect top, like the Lilesville, is bright enough to need very little. Brass, black and greenery all sit well against it.

What to leave off

The things that most often spoil a console are the useful ones that arrive and never leave: the post, the charging cables, the bags for life. Give each a place, a drawer, a basket or a hook by the door, and the table stays a table.

Find yours

Free UK delivery and 30-day returns on every console, and you can Make an Offer on any of them.

For measuring the space first, read our console table size guide. For using one behind a sofa, see a console table behind a sofa, and for other rooms, console table ideas beyond the hallway. Or browse all the console tables.