Now Hear This — A Look at Our Editors’ Coffee Tables: Your Weekly Behind the Scenes Glimpse Into the PaperCity Dallas Office Scene

I am a sucker for a magazine feature with images of the desks in the editors’ offices. Normally accompanied by a list of items used to accessorize said piece of furniture. For this week’s Now Hear This PaperCity Dallas office question, I decided to put a little spin on that concept. I asked everyone to take a picture with their smartphone of their coffee table.

In my mind, the coffee table is a window into a homeowner’s personality and gives everyone a chance to curate a chic vignette (maybe we should all add that to our LinkedIn profiles?).

Christina Geyer, Dallas Editor in Chief

My coffee table says everything you need to know about me. Mine is topped with 24 books. Only my favorites get prime coffee-table positioning: two tomes on Slim Aarons; Miles Redd’s Big Book of Chic; the massive Swans book from Assouline; Royal Holiday’s (a gem I found on Amazon that is no longer in print); Avedon: Women, the gorgeous catalogue from Gagosian Gallery on an exhibition of Richard Avedon’s work. The list goes on. Come to think of it, every tabletop in my apartment is stacked with at least four books.

I use cocktail napkins in lieu of traditional coasters. Currently in the rotation are monogrammed Mi Golondrina linens, which were a gift from the brand’s founder Cristina Lynch. I’m about to switch them out with my favorites from Madison, which are embroidered with happy (trunks up!) elephants.

I don’t have any family in Dallas, so my coffee table also boasts several framed photos of family and friends. I look at these photos every day — happy memories. Also on top, is a small mock Standard Oil oil drum given as a gift at a press dinner decades ago, which my late grandfather attended. He was a writer in his younger days and had a stint at The New York Times.

And, for now, at the center of it all is a nod to the season, with two small white pumpkins (everything in my apartment is white, so the Halloween decor must match) and Laura Slatkin’s new Sparkling Cassis candle for Nest. The center of my coffee table is about the only spot in my apartment reserved for holiday decor. So, come November pumpkins and Sparkling Cassis will be traded for Nest’s holiday candle and — post-Thanksgiving — a small table-top advent wreath (a German tradition) to mark the Christmas season.

Hillery Stack, Dallas Publisher

Not to be cliché, but This Is Us is actually playing in the background. My sweet pup, Tootsie Roll, is showing off her adorable face and her new favorite toy: Fiona the Flamingo. Her preferred snuggle spot is the corner to the left of the credenza. We are awaiting our final piece of furniture (a vintage contemporary accent chair), so she is taking full advantage of this nook.

Although, I won’t be surprised if she continues to love that corner, and snooze on the chair. It’s truly her house (and world!), and we are just living in it.

We couldn’t decide on which wedding photos to select for our photo album, so we chose 1,300 (out of the 1,550) and created six massive wedding albums.

I have an obsession with LAFCO candles. I go through two a month.

My husband and I are on Day 16 of WHOLE30, and this book given to me by a dear friend is getting us through this! After two weeks of WHOLE30, this Lime La Croix tastes like Sprite. I am not kidding you. My taste buds are savoring this sparkling treat!

Decorating our new home has been such a fun and therapeutic experience. Our dear friend and owner of Modified Home, is our decorator, and PaperCity’s home design editor, Rebecca Sherman, helped me find this Dash and Albert Rug in the Dallas Design District.

Lisa Collins Shaddock, Senior Editor

My coffee table was the first purchase I made for our married home together. I was making every effort to combine our styles and make things a more balanced mix of masculine and feminine. Along with the table, I gifted my husband Andrew two books (Pigskin Warriors, which is bound in football leather, and In Honor of the Mustangs) to prove my dedication to this. They remain on our coffee table stack today, on top of my copy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Goddess: The Classical Mode. The rest of my fashion and art books have taken over the shelves.

As a ritual, I love lighting a scented candle as soon as I get home at the end of the day — something Andrew has also adopted as a small luxury. I am obsessed with this Intermezzo-sized Cire Trudon in Trianon (not so small a luxury) which makes a statement with its gorgeous green jar. I have it out with this antique candle snuffer, an engagement gift from my godmother, and my favorite extra long matches from Seda France.

I make it a habit to keep fresh roses in the house, mainly because they look so good in tight, compact arrangements that require no effort to throw together. My coffee table roses are always in this mint julep cup from Mecox.

I also keep a deck of cards out because, like my dad and grandfather, I am always up for a game of gin rummy.

Linda Kenney, Account Executive

Flowers always adorn the coffee table; they change my mood and make me happy. Book, magazines and kaleidoscope are within reach.

Samantha Olguin, Senior Account Executive

My current coffee table situation — a beloved family heirloom passed down from my late father’s office (it might be a little dark for my taste but it’s not going anywhere!)

The top layers:

Every single issue of Papercity since going perfect bound #commitment.

The September Vogue. All hail the yearly fashion bible.

Balenciaga in Black, a memory of the incredible exhibit (currently on view at the Kimbell Art Museum) which still leaves me speechless just thinking about it.

The Art Book, because I have a lot to learn.

Keep Calm and Carry since I typically forget to keep calm and just carry on. Maybe there is an art to it?

Pumpkins. Your basic fall décor, of which I am a devout fan.

A cactus from a dear friend and colleague who left me for the Mile High City. Upon her departure, she left me a little piece of the décor from her office, which I would sit in every day chatting all things with her. The cactus reminds me of her and how much I miss her every day.

Once Christmas is upon us, I can assure you will not ask to see what is on my coffee table. Why? Because it will have thrown up Christmas. You’re welcome in advance for keeping that season to myself.

Billy Fong, Culture and Style Editor

I have to give significant credit to my dear friend Piper Wyatt for gifting me many of the items that accessorize my coffee table. For every holiday I receive a gloriously wrapped treat. (Who knew that President’s Day was an occasion for gifts?)

Prominently displayed is the massive, gorgeous tome — The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld. This treasured possession showcases two style legends reinterpretation of Chanel’s iconic little black jacket. Lagerfeld has redesigned the jacket, transforming it into a modern, adaptable garment to be worn by both sexes of all ages. The book contains Kaiser Karl’s photographs of celebrities wearing the jacket with individual flair — sometimes classic, sometimes irreverent, but always Chanel — and each styled by Carine Roitfeld.

An eclectic array of actors, musicians, models, writers, and directors gets the little black jacket treatment, including Claudia Schiffer, Uma Thurman, Kanye West, Tilda Swinton, and Sofia Coppola. A testament to the incredible versatility of the wardrobe staple and cements the little black jacket’s future as a timeless classic.

Also from Piper, Alexandra Von Furstenberg yellow acrylic ashtray and coasters. I took a cue from Graydon Carter’s rebellious spirit since he kept an ashtray on his desk of his office at Vanity Fair. I don’t advocate the vice, but at the end-of-the-day, if a smoker comes in my home I want them to feel welcome. With that in mind, I have a Chanel matchbox and lucite lighter alongside a donkey that when you pull his tail a cigarette comes out of its rear.

The other book on my table is Forever Butt. The first issue of Butt magazine arrived in the spring of 2001, sweeping aside the clichés of the mainstream homo press. This meaty anthology revisits some of the magazine’s finest and most thrilling moments from more than a decade in print including scandalous pictures and candid interviews with such iconic and fashionable men as Gore Vidal, François Sagat, and Marc Jacobs. It was truly an interesting moment a few years back when vintage homo erotica somehow permeated the chic water supply through a renewed fascination with authors like Gordon Merrick and the artist Tom of Finland.

If you ever have something you want our team to address, shoot us your thoughts via social media or email (@papercitydallas on Instagram; facebook.com/papercitymagdallas on Facebook; or yours truly, billy@papercitymag.com). Or, better yet send a message to the office, handwritten on the Smythson stationery of your choice — and feel free to include a bottle of Veuve. Champagne really helps get the ideas flowing.

Look for the next installment of Now Hear This from Billy Fong next Thursday.