It is the epicentre #mg

When it comes to design there is no denying the importance of getting your living room right! Sure it’s a great kitchen or luxurious bathrooms that help sell a property, but the living room is your space to relax, unwind, put your feet up with a glass of wine and a good book, and it is also the space where you welcome your guests into and entertain the people you love to have over.

When most of my guests arrive I invite them straight through to my kitchen where we usually chatter as I make them a coffee or pour some wine, but then I always suggest we sit down and relax in the living room. I don’t want to spend hours chatting over a stone bench top, or sitting on a barstool, I want to relax and I want my guests to relax too. We all have different ways we like to entertain, but this is mine. 

When I was designing my living room I came up with a few different designs, naturally my first design revolved around the television. the sofa faced it, the chairs were angled towards it, and then I thought why am I doing that? I don’t want my guests to come over and stare at a TV, I want to chat with them, I want to look at them. And I want us all to feel relaxed.

So I did something that these days seems a little unusual and I decided not to put a television in my living room. Instead of designing my room around a television I designed it around my coffee table!

A coffee table is the epicentre of the living room, it is the piece of furniture where everyone revolves around, so why not make the most of your coffee table and style it to reflect your unique personality?

Click to Tweet: “Always style your home to reflect your unique personality”.

There are so many different styles of coffee tables, so how do you choose the right one?

• Easy, choose one you love!
• My advice though is to choose your sofa and chairs first, that way you will have a clear idea of how much room you have for your coffee table. 
• It is also important to have your sofa first because that way you can get the height of your coffee table right. A coffee table should be around 1 to 2 inches shorter than your sofa or seating.
• The ideal distance between the sofa and coffee table is 18 inches, it’s the perfect distance to give you enough leg room, but also close enough to place your book, or drink down.
• If you have young children think about a round or oval table, it stops them hurting themselves on sharp or pointy edges.
• If you have a super gorgeous rug you want to show off, or if you room is small think about a glass top, that way it blends in more and you can see the rug. But best to avoid glass in a room with loads of large glass windows. (see below tip)
• back to kids . . . if you have young children consider a less expensive table or a distressed look table. You want to be able to live comfortably in your living room. If you are constantly telling your children off for touching things you can not relax, neither can your child or your guests.
• Consider the scale of your room and your furniture choices. You need to be able to move comfortably in the space. A great idea is to measure your room and draw it up to scale, then cut out scale pieces of furniture and see how it will work before you commit to purchases. A sofa can be a big expense so measuring how it will fit and how the coffee table will fit is a must.
• Consider using an ottoman as a coffee table. Add a tray where you can place objects and glasses. 
• Consider wood if your room has a lot of windows and glass, adding a glass table to a room with large glass windows or very high ceilings can make a room feel cold. Wood adds warmth and texture to a room that feels cool.
• If you want the coffee table to be a key feature in a dull or neutral room, then consider a bright coloured table.
• On the other hand if your room screams colour and pattern then consider a coffee table that is more subdued. You don’t want every piece fighting for attention. make a few pieces pop with colour or pattern, not every piece. 

Other things to consider.

Consider how you will style the coffee table, like I said, the coffee table is the epicentre of your living room and styling it should be all about you!

• Take some time to discover your taste. Window shop, look in magazines, look online, even read design articles. Take the time to figure out what appeals to you before you spend!
• If you are like me and you love books, then feel free to go book crazy on your coffee table. Or choose one very beautiful coffee table book. Find a great book store and spend time browsing their coffee table books, see what jumps out at you. Ask the staff for help if you need it.
• I am also a lover of candles and flowers and love having them on my coffee table because they make me feel at home. Think about what makes you feel at home. Candles obviously are not great with little children around, but you can always light them at night when little ones are tucked up in bed. (Unless you have bed time battles like I do lol). I like to light candles when I am home alone too, it helps relax me. 
• Like above, flowers are a great choice on a coffee table. there are some gorgeous fake flowers around now, but if you can go with fresh you should, they smell amazing and look so pretty. I love adding nature to my coffee table.
• Succulents are really in vogue right now, if you don’t want to have fresh flowers, try a cute pot with a succulent in it.
• Do you have a souvenir from your travels? Add it to your coffee table it is a great conversation starter. 
• If you have a beautiful vase, cup, or other ordainment that was handed down to you, perhaps from a grandparent why no put it on your coffee table? Again it will be a great conversation starter and will be a lovely reminder of people you love.
• If you have a neutral coffee table why not consider a pop of colour like a gorgeous bright serving tray!
• Need to jot things down a lot? Adding a gorgeous note pad and pen is also a great idea. 
• Don’t be afraid to be unique, if you love something then add it.
• Add as much as you like, then step back and think. Remove a couple of things, play around until you get the look and feel you like!
• Still not sure, ask a friend who has a good design eye for their opinion, but remember this is your space an your home so don’t feel like you have to take their advice if you feel it is wrong for you.
• Finally never be afraid to just be YOU!

Do you have any tips for styling your coffee table? What are your favourite things to have on your coffee table? 

Thanks for joining me, love Mackenzie xx

To see what things are in my living room that make me, me, check out my 10 things Vlog. 

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Welcome to the #mg link up party! 

This Link Up will allow you to link one post per week, your favourite blog post past or present. From your favourite photos of your kids, to posts about what you got up to on the weekend, what weird and wonderful things your children are up to, a great craft idea, or a recipe your family loves. You can link reviews, video blogs or pretty much anything you are proud of! The possibilities are endless. As long as the post is not offensive it can be added to my Linky! There will be some Rules, they’re easy to follow though.

I can’t wait to see your posts.

Rules:

1. You can add one link per week.
2. It must not be offensive.
3. You must leave a comment on the hosts post.
4. Please comment on the person’s post who is linked up before you.
5. Comment on at least one other post which grabs your attention. Therefore that is 3 comments in total please.
6. If your content is inappropriate it will be removed.
7. Your post does not have to include words it can be photo’s only.
8. Be kind, nice comments only. Show respect for all people at all times.
9. Have fun, add the posts you are most proud of and enjoy reading others.
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11. If you tweet using #mg and @macglanville I will always retweet.
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14. I would love you to subscribe to my website, it is not a rule, but it would make me very happy.
15. Have Fun! Email me mac@reflectionsfromme or tweet me if you have a question.

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Congrats to the following ladies! 

My favourite post linked up last week was from memeandharri.com  with some one on one time. I think most parents will relate to this post, I know I did.

The most clicked on posts this week were;

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and;

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