Coffee Tables Buying Guide
A Brief History
There are two historical designs that have led to what we would now recognise as a coffee table. Tables that were designed to be positioned against low backed sofas were popular in Victorian Britain as places to set down a book or cup. These tables consisted of a low and long design, the history of which is thought to be traceable back to the tables that appeared in tea gardens at the time of the Japanese or Ottoman Empire.
Although coffee tables are suitable as a piece of furniture for low level storage and display in a wide range of areas within the home, such as hallways, they are most commonly placed parallel to a sofa in the middle of the living room.
When the time comes for you to purchase a coffee table for your living room, you'll naturally need to ensure that it is of an appropriate size. Measure up your living room and consider how much space you'll have to circulate around the table, as well as what it will look like next to other furniture pieces. You don't want it to look either oversized or too small, and you'll also want it to be easy to pick up your television remote, magazine or mug from it when needed!
Additional Features
There are various other storage options that your chosen coffee table may offer, with the most popular being a lower shelf that slots between the legs and offers about as much surface space as the top of the table. Such a storage area is a good choice if you'd like to store items without overly cluttering the table top. Another option is to look for a coffee table that has inbuilt drawers, again ideal for keeping the top of the table clear.
We offer coffee tables with all of these storage options and more here at Furnishing Homes, whether you are looking for a table with a large amount of internal storage space that is accessed via an opening top, or instead one with as many drawers as the space between the legs allows.
Styles
As is the case with other furniture types, you are advised to ensure that your chosen coffee table does not clash with the rest of your home's decor, whether you opt for a contemporary or traditional design. Naturally, our store offers plenty of both, meaning that you achieve an exact match of woods with other existing furnishings, or instead mix things up slightly if appropriate.
You may, for example, be interested in a modern, painted coffee table of simple lines, or instead a warm oak or light pine coffee table to match the rest of your home's appearance. All of our coffee tables have a good quality finish that shows off the sleek paint or appealing qualities of the chosen wood - meaning that it should be easy to find the right coffee table for you, somewhere in our range.
