Chic Coffee Table Dining
We know a microwaved frozen pot pie with beer and ice cream isn't the healthiest dinner -- and that's fine with us. But when it's all served in the original packaging on a table that's littered with bills, trash and a crinkled magazine, it can start to feel overwhelming. How are you supposed to enjoy your food in such chaos?
Chic Coffee Table Dining
Maybe you recognize Nick from his ultra stylish, ultra witty blog, or perhaps you think that this apartment looks familiar (it does, it was just featured in the lovely Lonny Magazine). Those with sharp memories for handsome young designers remember him as the assistant to the legendary Miles Redd, or recall seeing Nick's previous apartment in Domino, where he was the youngest designer to ever have his work featured on the cover.
Who better to lend some serious panache to the coffee table-as-dining table disaster?
Nick -- work your magic!
Chic Coffee Table Dining
Clear it off! See, doesn't that already look better? Goodbye gum wrappers, goodbye gossip rag, goodbye laptop (you don't want to get crumbs in it, right?) "Before, this table was a big old mess, but it did have your essentials -- food, bills, phone, everything. You can still have all the elements, but it has to be more artfully arranged," Nick says. Here, we're working with the Lack Coffee Table ($20, IKEA.)
Chic Coffee Table Dining
Nick works fast. The pot pie is replaced by a Foccacia bread sandwich with citrus and fennel salad -- but just about anything will do. "It might take a little more time, but if you plate your food and use actual flatware and a cloth napkin, it's worth it. It's about treating yourself right," Nick explains.
Simple flatware and a cloth napkin make for a much, much better tactile experience than paper towels and plastic cutlery, while the blue glass adds a pop that the can of Bud just couldn't achieve. The reading material, French Vogue, doubles as eye candy, while a vase of flowers makes dinner feel like more of an occasion. But wait: This needs a touch more flair...
Chic Coffee Table Dining
Toys and candy save the day. (You never have to look much further than childhood favorites to add some fun to a scene.) Nick places a cute little melamine pig on the end and a glamorous ashtray filled with M&Ms to the side of the meal for some instant personality. "Those kinds of curiosities make a table so much more interesting -- it's such a tiny space, so we've packed it in and made it look attractive. It's a vignette now -- not just a mish-mash of all your clutter."
Chic Coffee Table Dining
Tray: Barbar, $8, IKEA.
Napkin: Tekla, $.50 each, IKEA.
Plate: Platebowlcup dinner plate by Jasper Morrison, $56 for 4, Alessi.
Glasses: Novica Cobalt Angles, $45 for 6, Cost Plus World Market.
Flatware: Kya 5 Piece Place Setting, $30, Mikasa.
Dish: Office Black Square Dip Cups by Arzberg, $74 for 4, Cooking.com.
Vase: Silver Plated Bud Vase, $6.50, Jamali Garden.
Hippo: Zuny Hippo, $40, CB2.
Chic Coffee Table Dining
Think that blooms are for special occasions only? Not Nick. "Fresh flowers always make your table zing and pop -- even if they're just $5 carnations from the deli," he says, of the red flowers on the left. "A more expensive alternative is white peonies. They're gorgeous, and go with everything." See in the next slide how he uses them to create a whole new look for the table.
Chic Coffee Table Dining
Nick shuffles in some new items to give another option. "Containment is key, and your best tool is a tray. Who thought your remote could look so stylish?" he explained after corralling the remotes in a sleek tray with his notebook and phone. "It's about displaying the essentials in an attractive way, about mixing all the things you need and all the things you love -- like my Darkside Zodiac coffee table book, which I consult about every person I meet to find out all the bad parts about their sign."
Chic Coffee Table Dining
How can you get your own coffee table to look so picture perfect? "Pay attention to color, contrast and scale. And remember: Right angles are your friends! Little things all make a difference -- stack your magazines, style your books so that they're lined up at the edge and stacked by height and color."
Chic Coffee Table Dining
Plate: Forget-Me-Not by Sophie Conran for Portmeirion, $21 each, Bloomingdales.
Flatware: Kya 5 Piece Place Setting, $30, Mikasa.
Napkin: Tekla, $.50 each, IKEA.
Glasses: Novica Cobalt Angles, $45 for 6, Cost Plus World Market.
Tray: Personalized Tray in Zebra by The Macbeth Collection, $78, Saks Fifth Avenue.
Dish: Office Black Square Dip Cups by Arzberg, $74 for 4, Cooking.com.
Small Tray: Dragonfly Pin-Up, $55, John Derian.
Hippo: Zuny Hippo, $40, CB2.
Vase: Silver Plated Bud Vase, $6.50, Jamali Garden.
Notebook: Designers I Met and Liked, $14, Archie Grand.
Book: Darkside Zodiac by Stella Hyde, $15, Amazon.
Chic Coffee Table Dining
Dining tables, be afraid. Photo: Alys Kenny.