Christmas Coffee Table Decor: 13 Ideas for Round, Rectangular and Small Tables

The version that works on almost any table. Put a ribbed vase of pine, berries and pine cones at the back of a round tray, a pillar candle and a tea light in textured glass beside it, a small bottle-brush tree in front, and a bowl of red and gold baubles to fill the last gap. Five things, three heights. The bowl is the trick: loose baubles roll around, baubles in a bowl look arranged.

Swap the vase for a tabletop tree in a plain pot. Stand a pillar candle in a glass cylinder next to it and scatter silver and champagne baubles and frosted pine cones around the base. It is a tree and a centerpiece in one, which is useful in a room with no space for a full-size tree. Our small Christmas tree ideas list more trees of this size.

On a white tray, group two paper or ceramic trees, a white house with a light inside, a smaller house, two candles in pale stone holders and a few frosted pine cones and sprigs. With no red or gold at all it reads as winter, not only Christmas, so it can stay out until February. It suits a pale wood table and a neutral sofa.

A glass coffee table shows everything, including the underside of a wooden tray. A mirrored or metal tray suits it better: two brass reindeer, three candles in clear and mercury glass, and a few pine cones. The mirror doubles the candlelight. Keep the rest of the glass clear, because clutter on a glass table looks like twice as much.

For a large square table or ottoman, use a square tray and think of it in quarters: a vase in one corner, a stack of two books in the next, a candle on the books, a bowl of baubles in the third, and the fourth left empty for a mug. The empty quarter is what makes it usable.

Fill a wide, shallow wooden bowl with cut cedar or fir, large pine cones and three or four baubles in moss green and gold, and stand a pillar candle in a glass jar in the middle. Everything in it is natural or already in the decoration box. It is low, so it suits a table in front of the television.

A clear glass bowl with dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, pine cones and a candle in glass in the center. It costs a couple of oranges and a jar of cinnamon sticks, and it smells of both. Keep the candle in its own glass holder and well clear of the dried pieces, or use an LED one.

A rectangular table wants a long shape. Fill a narrow wooden box with greenery, pine cones and red berries and stand three pillar candles down the middle. Place it along the length of the table, slightly off center, so one end of the table stays clear. A box of this shape also moves easily to the dining table: see our Christmas centerpiece ideas.

A round table suits a round arrangement. Lay a wreath flat on a wooden board or charger in the middle of the table and stand three pillar candles in the center, with pine cones, berries and a few baubles tucked into the greenery. It looks the same from every seat, which matters on a round table with chairs all around it.

On a dark round table, a tray can be left out. Stand a white vase of evergreen branches just off center, stack two books beside it, lay a pair of brass bells on the books and add two taper candles with small bows. The dark tabletop frames the group the way a tray would. This is the arrangement in the photo at the top of the page.

On a small round side-style coffee table, a cluster of pillar candles at different heights with a ring of red baubles, berries and gold stars around the base fills the middle and leaves the edge free. LED pillars give the same look and are the right choice on a light table that is easily knocked.

Two or three large books, spines turned away or wrapped in plain brown paper, make a base as well as a tray does. Put a candle and a small figure on top: a nutcracker, a brass reindeer, a ceramic tree. Beside the stack, a vase of branches. Books with red, green or cream covers can face out and do some of the decorating themselves.

On a table the size of a tray, choose one: a single vase of berry branches, a bowl of baubles, or a small lit house. Put the rest of the decoration on the shelf below, if there is one, or on the mantel. Our Christmas mantel decor ideas take the same pieces up to eye level.