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10 Best Coffee Tables

I am frequently asked about coffee tables. It’s a really important piece of furniture that, for some reason, is rarely about a place to actually put a cup off coffee. It’s more about the coffee table book and a place to arrange some decorative objects. Whatever you use yours for here is my round up of the ten best coffee tables.

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These are so difficult. I like a big one personally. I want to be able to rest my feet on it, put swanky books on it and keep a glass of wine, the remote control and occasionally (all right, quite often) my supper on it. Turns out these are quite hard to find. I have suggested to clients – based on my own coffee table that came from a junk shop years ago – that you can cut the legs off an old kitchen table and that works pretty well as you get something old and solid and with plenty of character.

But if your look is a little more refined than mine. Or you don’t have space for a large table – and I’ll be honest here – my sitting room would be much more spacious if I had a smaller one – then this post is for you. Also I’m a fan of the idea of two or three tables that you can group together in front of the sofa or move around as and when they are needed.

MAY COFFEE TABLE

£1,195

Tom Raffield

may coffee table by tom raffield
may coffee table by tom raffield

This is the heirloom piece but it’s so beautiful. I have featured Tom’s work on the blog before – some of you may have seen his house on Grand Designs – and I love the detail and love that clearly goes into each piece. I have one of his lights that I bought in a sample sale and I love it every day. This table is solid and simple but that delicate curve which looks like a pretty detail is actually supporting the whole structure. Form and Function in one.

CASA COUTURE TAJ COFFEE TABLE

£270

House of Fraser

metallic sliver coffee table from house of fraser
metallic sliver coffee table from house of fraser

It’s big, it’s sturdy, you can rest your feet on it and, in a dark room, it will bounce the light around. It’s just a little bit more unusual than the classic wood and I’m all for a bit of unexpected in a room.

FACETED MIRROR COFFEE TABLE 

£698

Anthropologie

faceted mirror coffee table from anthropologie
faceted mirror coffee table from anthropologie

Sticking with the metallic idea, this is a foxed mirror version from Anthropologie and I saw it in the store the other day and it does look great. The smaller one is out of stock now but this would be a showstopper in a sitting room. You could have a matching pair, which I don’t suggest very often but it would work in this case, or you could add two simple and smaller wooden ones – I would be tempted to say chunky wooden stools to contrast with the shine of this one. Round or square – both would work given the shape of this one. This wooden one from Design Vintage would work well, it’s more refined than that log nonsense that just isn’t disappearing.

HASTINGS GREY GLOSS COFFEE TABLE

£495

Habitat

hastings grey gloss table from habitat
hastings grey gloss table from habitat

For those of you who like something a little more refined, a little more sleek and, well, less dominating, this grey gloss number from Habitat fits the bill rather well. And for what it’s worth I think there is a gradual move back towards elegant furniture that is a little less chunky and more grown up in its lines. The legs just curve slightly – no it’s not a trick of the camera – but just stops it being too block-like and makes it more considered. As with the metallic ones above, this will reflect the light. Might need to watch for finger prints though.

JOIN™ FH61 COFFEE TABLE 

£641

Fritz Hansen

Fritz-Hansen-FH61-Join-Coffee-Table-Oak-Insitu-800x600
join coffee table from fritz hansen

This table is both big enough to be useful but elegant enough in shape to not dominate the space. At this price you probably won’t want to stick your boots on it but there is definitely room for the eponymous book and drink and vase of flowers. It also comes in plain black wood which lends itself to a perfect styling opportunity and means that if you have wooden floorboards there’s no fight.

ALLE TABLE 

from €259 (three sizes available)

hem.com

alle coffee table from hem.com
alle coffee table from hem.com

By the time you have the straight lines of the sofa and the shelves and possibly the chairs as well, not to mention a couple of rectangle rugs, it can be a good idea to introduce a few softer shapes. These wooden coffee tables from Hem comes in three sizes and eight colours and works perfectly as a pair as shown above.

ORLENA

£295

Urban Outfitters 

glass coffee table from urban outfitters
glass coffee table from urban outfitters

Where to start with this one? It’s ticking several boxes. So one it’s a bit Jonathan Adler only about ten times cheaper (possibly 20). It’s curved legs and glass top are very 70s which is screamingly fashionable. The glass top means you will see more floor which will make the space look bigger as this will disappear into the space. Brass is all over the place which means the forward-facing and contrary among you will be looking back at chrome. Parents of small children need not apply.

DUKE TABLE

from £149 (three sizes)

NORR11

duke table by norr11 image fantastic frank
duke table by norr11 image via fantastic frank

I have been working with Norr11 as a brand ambassador since they launched in the UK. I was the first to write about them and, as a result of that post, they asked if I wanted to work with them. I agreed because, as with all companies I work with, I had already featured them of my own volition and therefore knew it was a good fit. However, including this coffee table isn’t part of my remit with them and I have put it in because I think it’s a great piece which I have recommended to several clients (no I don’t get commission). Basically, there are three sizes and the tops are all trays and the bases can go tall or wide so you can vary the height of them to create an interesting centrepiece. The downside is that the detachable top means there’s no foot resting on these but the tray means it’s quite handy for those cheeky tv suppers.

BOX FRAME COFFEE TABLE 

£399 narrow and £599 wide

westelm

box frame coffee table from westelm with marble top
box frame coffee table from westelm with marble top

Another table that comes in two sizes – long and narrow (122cm by 43cm) or shorter and wider (112cm by 61cm) so if you live in the Victorian long and narrow terrace you should be all right with the smaller one or if your house is wider and squarer the other is good for you. Room for a bit of decorative schmatter, a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine. Just don’t spill it – that top is marble.

ROCHELLE SIDE TABLE 

£170

Perch and Parrow

pink side table from perch and parrow
pink side table from perch and parrow

I love this table. The mix of brass and pink is both pretty and luxe and it comes in two sizes and also three colours – blush, burgundy (they’re calling it red) and grey. Buy all three in a mix of sizes and group them or place them around your living room as the fancy takes you. The colours are both on trend and classic and they will go perfectly in both minimalist and maximalist interiors – depending, of course, on what you mix them with. Then, when you’re done, move them to the bedroom and use them as bedside tables.

 

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

7 Comments

  1. Not enough likes for this post (I actually looked for the like button – doh).
    Thank you muchly!

  2. An interesting collection of tables.
    We changed our coffee table several years ago for a solid oak one that has a cantilevered top. So it can be a coffee table, supper table or laptop table. There is storage in the base to hide the messy or sharp things when guests or small children come to visit. It’s a godsend.

  3. My coffee table is made from a bar table that was sold for £10 when my dads local working mans club closed recently . Sadly . It seems full of happy memories from the 50 years he went there .

  4. I like the Casa Couture one, but it looks that it’s going to scratch easily (I’m guessing it’s aluminium?).

  5. We had a large coffee table which was solid and heavy. So heavy that it was a problem to move to open up the sofa bed, so when we moved we donated it to charity. Now we make do with three recycled or upcycled (I have no idea what the difference is) tables all painted in shades of turquoise/green which cost £50 and can almost be moved single handed! Room for the remotes, a glass of wine and the larger one will hold a supper tray. But no feet 🙁
    What I would like to see features are media tables – something clean and simple for the television – we have solid granite walls so no way can we put a TV on the wall. Drill bits wilt at the thought…

  6. Ooh that pink sofa from the Fritz Hansen coffee table photograph is just so yummy! Any idea where it is from? Thanks Kate. Love your posts.

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