Acts of Comfort: Easy access games that are nice to look at

In our household, with all activities cancelled, we are playing games a lot more. It is a nice way to engage as a family, keep our brains sharp, and look away from all the screens for a little while.

We have a ton of games and therefore a games cabinet, but if you don’t have extra storage space you can incorporate good looking games into your decor. (Leaving them out also encourages play.)

While I love a well styled surface, I don’t love meaningless objects that fill space. Over the last couple of years I have found myself incorporating games into coffee table styling for this vary reason. So up first, games that look great on a coffee table:

Inspiration image: Tangletown Traditional, photographed by Spacecrafting photography.

Tic tac toe is surprisingly addictive and anyone can play: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

This domino set (6) comes in a box pretty enough to display

Chinese checkers (7) and mancala (8, 9, 10) are pretty and sculptural and come in many styles. Just beware if you have small children—you wouldn’t want the beads or marbles to get swallowed!

Inspiration image: Trendy Tudor

If you have a small table that doesn’t see a lot of use, consider leaving out a chessboard (3, 5, 7) or checkers set (6). (Of course these can also go on the coffee table—I gifted my parents number 7 for their family room coffee table, but chess in particular is more comfortable played sitting at a table.)

Backgammon (1, 2, 4) is another great game to leave out, whether with the case open or closed.

Finally, loose game pieces can be corralled in a pretty bowl and left on any surface that makes sense for your situation. I had one client who put dominoes in an old wooden dough bowl on her kitchen table, and another with a wicker basket full of legos on her coffee table. Genius!

Inspiration image: Fresh Vintage Bungalow, David Peterson

Under photo: legos in an oversize woven bowl

From top: marble and brass dominoes in a blue dough bowl or a dotted pottery bowl

black dominoes in a vintage brick mold or a striped bowl

lucite ombre jenga in a marble footed bowl

traditional wood jenga in a chinoiserie bowl

Go ahead and use what you have! Dig up some marbles, a puzzle, whatever appeals to you. Fill a pretty container that you love but don’t get to see everyday. And put it out where you or your people will use it.