What's your coffee table saying about you?

Statement-making decorator Martyn Lawrence-Bullard shares his script for an eloquent living room centerpiece

Perhaps Rorschach should have gone with coffee tables rather than inkblots. According to Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, award-winning interior designer who was featured on Bravo's "Million Dollar Decorators" and author of a new book called "Live, Love & Decorate" (Rizzoli), coffee tables are your home's own little personality test. Lawrence-Bullard says coffee table accessories are so personal they're often the very last thing he does in a home, "They're as important as art because they can express who you are."

Not that Lawrence-Bullard's clients typically have much trouble expressing who they are. He's designed homes for Cher, Elton John and Sharon and Ozzie Osbourne, just to name a few. Their homes all reflect Lawrence-Bullard's irresistible bravado and the coffee tables are no exception. "People congregate around them so coffee tables need to feel important and personal." His only warning? Be sure to leave room for a coffee cup.

3 ways to play:

Your choice of objects might be highly personal, but the path to that style statement can be quantified. Lawrence-Bullard has three principal recipes for building a big-personality coffee table:

1. The layered look

Having a very simple rectangular table in wood or parchment provides freedom to use "lots of complicated layers of accessories" says Lawrence-Bullard, because the table's simple shape doesn't compete for attention.

Use books as foundation: Lawrence-Bullard suggests using large art books in two stacks as the initial layer. "Perhaps four large books that reflect your interests on one side, with three more on the opposite side," he says.

Add a bowl: To balance the differing heights of the two stacks of books, add an eye-catching bowl on top of the smaller stack.

And a vase full of flowers: Tuck in between the books. "You always need flowers!" he says. But take care not to center it on the table. "That would be too stiff. It should be off to one side."

Keep like with like: Lawrence-Bullard says the books, bowl and vase should still leave room for a collection. "The key to displaying a collection of small objects like that is to group 'like' things together. It's more pleasing to the eye."

Compliment the architecture: In supermodel Cheryl Tiegs' house Lawrence-Bullard used the coffee table to direct the eye to her place's jaw-dropping architecture. "Cheryl's table is black lacquer, and much higher than normal because the ceilings in her house are 24 feet high," he explains, "So then the things we placed on top are tall too."

2. The less-is-more attitude

Lawrence-Bullard says when he has a client whose table has a dramatic silhouette or pattern "then I definitely want to be simple with my accents and accessories."

Again with the books: "Yes, I'd still start with books, but in this case I'd use only a few. And I might stack them all on just one side of the table."

Add a large bowl: Lawrence-Bullard says he'd want to keep things low and unobtrusive so instead of a vase he might find an ebony or silver bowl to go opposite the books. "Then I'd fill it to the brim with peonies or roses."

Go below: If your table itself is busy but you can't part with your coffee table books, stack them underneath to keep the look calm. It will look less messy and the kids can still play a game or eat a meal while watching television. "A family room coffee table should be decorative but it has to function too!"

Color-coordinate (then don't): In the Hollywood home of Julia Sorkin, Lawrence-Bullard used two ottomans covered in zebra print fabric in place of a coffee table. But that required keeping the accessories minimal and color-coordinated so the look wouldn't get too busy. He says he added black, ivory and silver accents to sync with the palette, then purposely threw the palette aside with shockingly bright pink orchids. "That's a color not represented anywhere else. It gives a burst to the whole room."

3. The mood changer

"It's very difficult to come up with a simple explanation for styling this type of coffee table," says Lawrence-Bullard, "but it's about creating a table that sets the mood and influences the entire room. It's spiritual and deeply personal."

Create a focal point: Lawrence-Bullard confides that Cher (yes, that Cher) is currently "going through a Buddhist phase." So he started her table top off with a lovely ancient Asian statue as the largest, most important object. Then he grouped smaller gold metal figurines around it (keeping 'like' things together).

From: chicagotribune.com