Interiors: The perfect coffee table
The right coffee table for your space will blend perfectly with the shape and size of your sofa and the rest of the living room
I’ll admit that a lot of my interiors choices are still dictated by whether my small children will fling them to the floor, move them around to make a fort, or crash into them while tearing through the house.
In an effort to prevent indoor casualties with early walkers, we decided to forego a coffee table for a few years. But it’s just about time to reinstate coffee table privileges, and I’m on the hunt for the perfect option.
Choosing a coffee table isn’t as easy as just picking the one that appeals to you the most.
Instead, it requires finding a suitable option for your particular living room furniture placement and for your sofa shape.
Those two elements will dictate which shape and size you’ll choose. Coffee tables come in all shapes and sizes, so you’ll need to choose round, square or rectangular.
When it comes to size, you want to locate a Goldilocks coffee table: not too big that your shins bump every time you walk by, but not so small that it looks miniature next to your sofa. If you have the space, a larger coffee table can make a bigger design statement.
If you’re looking for a more flexible option, a collection of smaller round coffee tables can allow you to move them around the room as needed when you’re entertaining, or clear them out of the way if you require more space. Meanwhile, a large, square coffee table offers plenty of real estate for coffee table books and magazines.
Finally, if you’re hoping to get a bit more visual space in your living room, consider a coffee table with a pedestal base, which will offer the added benefit of eliminating those oft-kicked table legs.
Round coffee tables easily lend themselves to this construction, and square or rectangle versions with diagonal legs can create the same effect.