What Goes on a Sofa Table?

We're getting ready to bring in the big pieces of our living room. We've got a fresh coat of paint on the walls, a brand new rug, curtains ordered and couches being delivered. We've figured out the layout for the staples, but now it's time to start thinking in terms of accessories.

As you can see from the layout design I have drawn up, we plan to use our current entryway table as a sofa table (also called a behind the couch table).

This got me thinking... what exactly is supposed to go on this table? I've used this entryway table as a sofa table in the past. It used to sit behind my arm-less couch in my Boston apartment because the living room was so small we didn't have space for end tables to put the lamp on. We mainly decorated it with wine glasses at night, replaced by water bottles in the morning. This is the only photo I can find with evidence of its existence.

Those things aren't hovering in mid-air, they are on my sofa table!

So anyways, I'm now trying to figure out what is actually supposed to go on a classy sofa table. Upon a bit of research I have compiled this super short list:

1. Lamps
Ah, I was on the right track! If you don't have an end table, place your lovely lamps behind the couch. If you have two, try to space them out symmetrically. If you have one, place it to the side. Don't put it smack dab in the middle.

2. Books
Well one can only hope that Kramer comes out with a coffee table book about sofa tables.3. Plants

3. Plants
It seems to me that most interior design photos in home decor magazines feature a plant on every surface in the room... So the sofa table, being a surface, deserves a plant, or as many as it can fit.

4. Miscellaneous
This is the catch-all category. Every bare surface in the home calls for trinkets, candles, tchotchkes, figurines, bowls (empty or full), baskets, vases, rocks, driftwood, anything really.

SO basically what I have learned is that I was on the right track with my sofa table. Granted the vase had fake flowers in it and the only bowls that ever touched that table were filled with ramen noodles... But I am on the up and up! I am trying to be more classy and sophisticated. I may even stop wearing leggings as pants.

PSYCH! I will never stop doing that. But in the meantime, I will try to start collecting some unique and meaningful pieces to display behind my couch.