Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 449 Comments

Decorating A Console Table Behind A Couch

The console returns. Yes, the console is like Rocky and Batman movies. The sequels keep coming. Maybe instead of The Console Returns we should say “Console: The Final Chapter” or “The Console Strikes Again” or “I Still Know What You Did Last Console.” No? Fine. We’ll stick with The Console Returns.

Yes, after many (many) posts about our big console build, this is the official finale. And this one is the most exciting for me because it’s all about the fun stuff I put on it. Haha. I’m deep, what can I say? I’m sure it’ll constantly change, but here’s what it looks like today:

Console Whole Room

Console Light

Console Side Straight

Console Side Slant

Console Straight

Console Slant Front

The lamps were more than we’ve ever spent on lamps (I have some sort of imaginary $50-a-pop maximum and these were $59 each) but from the moment I saw them at Marshall’s I couldn’t. walk. away. I even texted a picture of them to my friend Cat and she said “You’re a magpie, gotta have ’em if they’re shiny.” So I said to myself: “Self, what’s $18 extra bucks when it’s true lamp love?” It did help that they were marked down from $125 each.

We also picked up that big capiz-topped black lacquered box from HomeGoods (on clearance for $15, down from $36) because I knew it would be awesome for stashing nearly all of the clutter that seems to collect on the sofa (a few magazines, books, notebooks, pens, remotes, and even my brush and lotion). And the sleek glammy vibe worked with the blingy lamps to bring some modern chicness to our rustic ol’ console beast.

Console Box Closed

Console Box Open

Other than that I just brought in some stuff that we already owned, from a few stacks of pretty hardcover books that I love to flip through (which are also functional thanks to a handy coaster that I stacked on top for my nightly cup of tea and the smaller white capiz box that’s secretly full of my smaller sofa essentials (lip gloss, vitamins, nail clippers, etc).

Console Lamp Close

Console Tea

Console Other Side2

And this cute $3 thrifted quatrefoil tray is perfect for all of the jewelry that I like to remove as soon as I sink into my special spot on the sectional (the chaise in case you’re wondering).

Console Jewelry

And here’s what we have going on in those hidden baskets in the middle compartment. The left side is full of board games since this the room where we usually get our game on. And the basket on the right has a lesser used remote (for the DVD player) as well as some books that we got for Clara from the library (we try to keep them all together so we’re not looking everywhere for one last book on the day that they’re due).

Console Baskets Cabinet

And of course we have a little ceramic animal action going on thanks to my old ZGallerie rhino friend. Probably just for a bit until Clara gets bigger and he becomes endangered. Then he’ll go live on the built-ins in the dining room again:

Console Rhino Side

For some reason this shot kills me. The little ceramic rhino butt in the background gets me every time.

Console Other Side Rhino Bu

As for the bookshelf sides of the console, we found three of these $5 baskets at HomeGoods, so the one on the close side of the console on the bottom shelf is full of a bunch of Clara’s board books while the top shelf has some of our books and a fun little Cardboard Safari rhino going on.

Console Side Straight

… and two more baskets on the far side of the console have blocks and other small toys stashed inside.

Console Other Side

We’re sure everything that we have on/in the console table will be constantly changing. For example, once Clara’s a bit more mobile I don’t think my beloved ceramic rhino will get to live up there anymore. Unless I want him to meet an untimely end like my ceramic pooch.

Console Rhino Side

Heck, she might even try to murder the cardboard rhino on that side shelf (so far, so good though) so we’re just going to play it by ear. We might decide that we’d like more empty space for putting stuff down on the top of the console (we have that big expanse in the center for a large bowl of chips or something, along with plenty of room for more coasters for drinks, but you never know if we’ll want even more). So it’ll be fun to tweak it and watch it evolve as the rest of the room comes together over the next year or two (still on the list: breezy curtains to add softness, a larger and more balanced looking media cabinet, etc).

And now for the weirdest video we’ve ever made. We were in sort of a quirky mood so we thought it would be hilarious to make a sexy stroking-the-console-video of the whole thing in action (we even throw open that middle compartment for ya to see how it opens and closes in “real time”). The music kills me. And the slow motion. Yup, we’re still laughing about it:

Strangest video you’ve ever seen. Am I right? Oh and we have one more pic for ya. At night it’s all sorts of magical in the living room now that we removed all the weird ceiling fans and that off-center corner pendant light and use the console table lamps along with the desk lamp to illuminate the room.

Console Night

This photo doesn’t even do it justice, but in person it’s so cozy and glowey and charming. And we can only imagine how the right curtains and a bigger and more proportionate media cabinet will take this work-in-progress room a whole lot further. Someday…

Psst- Wanna flip back through the whole console building journey? Here’s the first post, the second post, the third post, the fourth post, and the fifth post.

Comments

  3. Mango Furniture says

    Holy Sh… Wow, that is one hell of a console! Not sure that would even fit in my house (except maybe angled up the stairs) but I’d still love to own one. As the male half of a young couple renovating an old house myself (albeit a tiny victorian terraced house in Wales), I must say I love your blog and find it totally inspiring. Love it, love it, love it!

    Also, I need porcelain rhinos in my life!

    Reply

  4. Jes says

    This is my first time posting.I’m a newbie/terrified DIY.And I must say your style is my style!I’m getting ideas together for a bathroom and guest room redo and i love the art work over your couch.Where in blazes did you get those frames and is that colorful wall paper inside?I can’t tell.Thanks in advance :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Those frames were just $19 Ribba frames from Ikea and the paper inside of them is just from Michael’s (it was scrapbooking paper so we spent around $5 for all eight sheets!). Good luck!

      xo,
      s

  5. Heather West says

    I just stumbled on this “old” post, and I just have to say I love, LOVE your living room. Gorgeous! I even love the “art” behind the couch.

    Since you have eight frames though, you could alternate every other frame with a gorgeous B&W print. I think that would look amazing, especially next toa bold pop of color.

    Reply

  6. Carrie Grome says

    OK… I have to have those lamps! I just got back from Marshalls & it’s no surprise…nothing doing.
    Can you please give me a little more information about them? Like a name brand or anything revealing about their origins. Thanks so much!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I wish I knew more but they just had a price scanner sticker (no tag on the shade or light indicating maker or model number). Anyone recognize them?

      xo,
      s

  10. Kat says

    I just stumbled across your blog and LOVE it! I am also in love with your lounge, it is exactly what I am looking for? Where did you get it?

    Reply

  13. Kristina says

    Hello,

    You are amazingly talented and I love your couch and rug! You may have already answered this but where did you get them?

    Thanks so much,

    Kristina

    Reply

  14. kali says

    May I ask where you got the green rug? I have a pewter sectional and want to do green as a accent color, what other color work well? Thanks

    Reply

  18. Christine Major says

    Just found your website while looking for some info on the Karlstad sectional with chaise ! I love your decor !! I was wondering if that is the 3+2 sectional with chaise attached ? Yours looks larger than the other pictures I’ve seen online, but I am guessing it’s because you attached the chaise to the longer part of the sectional ? I love the look of it and just want to make sure I’m ordering the right pieces !!!! Thanks !

    Reply

  19. Christine Major says

    Thank you ! That does help a lot so I know exactly which parts to order for the sectional. Do you happen to remember how LONG the long end of it is ?

    .Just looked through the post again and ADORE the console idea !!! I’m not sure if we are talented enough to build it, but it so tempting that we just might try !

    Thanks again for your help ! You have a new fan/follower ! :) Can’t wait to browse the rest of your site !

    Reply

  24. Jenna says

    I have the same type of shelf behind my couch in my current apartment. But I’m moving… I would like to use it again but my purple/plum accent wall (where the shelf will be) has a unattractive window about 3 inches higher than the shelf. I would like to figure out a way to dress up or hide the window. The shelf was custom made and stained to go with my 10ft couch. I also absolutely love the idea of having my lighting behind me so I cut holes for lamps. Any suggestions? I wish I could post pictures so you could see what I’m working with :-/

    Reply

  26. Kate says

    This is kind of a random question on an old post, but… how did you like how the console behind the couch worked in real life use? Did you find that you missed being able to lean back against the wall (which my husband thinks he’ll miss)? Did you end up hitting the lamps a lot?

    My daughter is 10 months and starting to get mobile (she’s a bit of a late bloomer, she’s rolling all over but not crawling yet) and I think it’s time to have a spot up and out of the way for our lamps/the power strip/our glasses/etc. We have the same couch and I’m considering making a similar (but probably simpler) console.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I am hopelessly addicted to the console! We have it behind our sofa here in this house because we got so used to it there in our previous house. We never hit the lamps and could lean back on the sofa (we could never lean on the wall behind the sofa without super-arching our backs, so that wasn’t something we did or missed) but I love the convenience of having a place to put a hot cocoa cup and the remote and all that stuff (since we have a padded ottoman and not a coffee table). Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  27. Kayla says

    Hi! Absolutely love your house… Do you have a tutorial on the shelf/table/console thingy behind the couch!? I’m in love. Lol

    Thanks!

    Reply

  28. Clare says

    I’m a bit behind the times and have just found your awesome site! Wondering if you can share where you got your sectional? I’ve been searching for something just like it for some time! Keep on posting!

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *