The Coffee Table: For Feet or Art
The Coffee Table: For Feet Or Art
Interior designers the field over will tell you that the coffee table is the very last furniture piece you will find to complete your space.
Coffee table designs changed dramatically over the years and they are always the focal point of your living room. Below, you’ll find some that can be called works of art too.
I’ve always had a penchant for unique coffee tables. They can transform your living room instantly. Choosing the right coffee table for your space is essential to the overall look for living room space.
A coffee table helps anchor a living room seating area and serves as an important function as well. The coffee table serves a multi-faceted role in the living room; it can be used for storage, as part of a display or as the spaces statement piece.
Interior designer Vern Yip understands the frustrations of trying to find the ideal coffee table. Yip said in an interview with HGTV that even interior designers can have a hard time selecting the “perfect” coffee table from what seems like an infinite supply.
While you’re shopping around for a coffee table in the showroom or at IKEA, you’ll need to know what you’ll be using it for. And once you finally get it home, does it really fit the space?
Below, are some tips and inspiring ways to use coffee tables to easily transform your living space.
3 Ways to Use a Coffee Table
How you use your coffee table will be dependent on how you use your living room. Do you like to host a weekly movie night with friends? If so, your coffee table is probably used as a makeshift buffet table. Maybe you like displaying the trinkets you’ve collected from your trips and want them at the ready to show your guests. Maybe you want to hide your remotes and magazines in a drawer. Or perhaps you just want something that will tie the room together, you don’t care if it has storage or not.
Design and architecture blog Freshome says there are 10 easy ways to pick out the perfect coffee table. For our purposes, I’m going to go with what I believe are the top five:
- Cost
- Size
- Shape
- Material
- Function
When buying your coffee table, you’ll first want to be comfortable with the price. If you get a super expensive coffee table, you won’t want to use it at all. If you get a coffee table that is too large, it’ll fill up the living space and make it feel cramped and crowded. And if the materials have the potential to warp after getting wet from one sweating glass, then it’s probably a no-go. Let’s take a look at three coffee tables that exhibit style, function, and finesse.
Hull Coffee Table – Gus Modern
We begin our tour with Gus Modern’s Hull Coffee Table. This rounded, ship hull-shaped table isn’t just meant to be looked at, it’s meant to be used. The thick ash wood top has a beveled edge, protecting knobby knees and swaying toddlers from getting hurt.
Covered in a clear water-based coat, this coffee table can handle liquid and food spills and makes for an easy clean-up. Whether you’re doing crafts while watching your favorite movie or enjoying a savory meal, this coffee table is your mainstay.
Cub Coffee Table – Blu Dot
Built for style and storage, the Blu Dot Cub Coffee Table is all at once a centerpiece, storage unit, and display case.
Topped with a smoked tempered glass on a smoke-stained solid ash base this heavy, square coffee table showcases your books and trinkets under the glass, creating a museum-like display while also protecting your treasures from being knocked off the table and/or damaged.
For a cool, sleek storage, the Cub Coffee Table is an essential living space fixture.
Astor Coffee Table – IonDesign
The Astor Coffee Table by IonDesign is made of two organic materials (wood and stone) that meld together into one harmonious design.
The rectangular coffee table has a walnut top inlaid with grained white marble. The table’s sled legs are two different widths, creating a sort of symmetrical asymmetry, try saying that 10 times fast!
This table has been designed to be the centerpiece of the living space. It requires no trinket nor coffee table book—it is perfect as is.
Once we know what we want out of our living and family rooms, selecting the furniture isn’t so stressful. Just remember, all good furniture pieces are multi-faceted.

Wow…..Carolann…you’re so smart! This is such a helpful post. Thx for sharing! XO Susie
This is right up my current events so to speak as I am looking and looking for a coffee table and having the hardest time. One is too expensive and the next is not the right color, one is glass and not practical, but boy do I love it.
Deciding is the hardest part for sure! Right now my current coffee table is being used for 2 laptops in the evening and nothing during the day. Once I find the right one I will work it into my decor and kick the boys out of the living room. Summertime and no school makes decorating a challenge. Thanks for these great options!
Carolann, This is a great post. I found a mission-style coffee table over 30 years ago in an antique store. It has scratches that adds to the character, along with a drawer and a shelf underneath. The top is big and I bought it for us to put our feet on, eat pizza with the kids and sit drinks on it. I’ve decorated with it all these years and love it as much today as the day I first laid my eyes on it.
thanks much Qs. You are always such a doll xo
Oh wow Sue, can’t wait to see what you get. Yes, it’s so difficult choosing a coffee table. I used to be a fan of the glass tops now I hate them. They are so hard to keep clean and no matter how expensive they are, the glass always seems to get funky. The one we recently purchased it all wood and I’m so happy with it. Happy shopping. I’m looking forward to seeing what you choose! xo
lol yes, get them outta there! It’s fun decorating a new space. You surely got so much done in your new home. Can’t wait to see what you get!
Thanks much Carol, It’s so nice to have a piece of furniture embedded with meaning. So glad you still love it. Have a wonderful holiday weekend!