Leave a third of it empty
The difference between a styled surface and a cluttered one is usually not the number of objects, it is the amount of visible surface left between them. Aim to leave roughly a third of the top clear and the rest reads as deliberate.
Group in odd numbers
Three objects grouped together read as one arrangement. Two read as a pair that is slightly off, and four read as a row. Work in groups of three, and if you have six things, make two groups rather than one line.
Vary the height
Every group wants a tall element, a medium one and something low and horizontal. A lamp or a vase, a frame or a small clock, then a stacked pair of books or a tray. Objects of equal height sitting side by side is what makes a surface look like storage.
Anchor it to the wall
Something on the wall above the console — a mirror, a frame, a piece of art — ties the surface to the room. Keep it narrower than the console and start it six to eight inches above the top.
Give the small things a tray
Keys, remotes and coasters accumulate on any horizontal surface near a door or a sofa. A tray does not stop that, it just makes it read as one object instead of nine.
What to skip
Anything you have to move to use the surface. A console by the front door is a working surface first, and decoration that gets picked up every day is decoration in the wrong place.