A coffee table isn’t just a place for your guests to set down their drinks.

“The coffee table is often the centerpiece of the room,” said Dan Mazzarini, a partner at the New York-based interior design and styling firm BHDM. It will attract attention whether you want it to or not. So don’t overlook its decorative potential.

Studio AK, an interior design firm in New York. “When you walk into a home with a nicely styled coffee table, it feels complete and really works as part of the bigger picture.”

LTW Design, an interior design and staging firm in Ridgefield, Conn. “That brings the eye in and creates interest.”

To ensure some variation is present, “we always start with the tallest item,” Ms. Ward said, “which, if not a big sculpture, tends to be a tall vase or a medium-size vase with oversized branches.”

home stager and interior designer in Los Angeles. “I usually put whatever books I’m enjoying the most on the table,” she said. “Sometimes, there’ll be a particular image I love so much I’ll leave the book open to that page, so every time I walk by I get to see it again. It’s almost like I have another painting in the room.”