Have coffee tables been discussed here?

[small & friendly]

Julia, over at hookedonhouses had a thread recently on items that are disappearing from the average home. One was the coffee table. For space saving reasons I have not had one for many years, and don't miss it a bit. No more walking around it, or dusting or cleaning it. No more trying to make it fit, crowding an already small space. Coffee cups, books and magazines, tv remotes and snack plates fit just as well on the end table.

My D Sis has a huge, square, glass toped coffee table that's an attack animal. I don't know how many bruised shins it has caused. But...she likes it. :(

Now that I realize what a space eater mine was, I would not get another one, even if I lived in bigger quarters.

What are your thoughts on this?

[iris lily]

Not practical for us. When (finally after two decades) I was able to dress up our living room with real furniture, I toyed with getting one, but decided that we'd always be tripping over it.So I got 3 Mid-Century modern stack tables and use them with another small side table, and that works. The center of our "conversation grouping" is empty, and I like it that way.

[Wildflower]

Got rid of the coffee table when my toddler kept hurting herself running into it - that was about 35 years ago....

Never replaced it. Our furniture is grouped around our fireplace, so there is no room now for sure.

I do like coffee tables though when they work in the space. Just helped my DD refinish an old one she found at a garage sale. Looks awesome in her living room.

[lhamo]

We don't have one either, but I'd like to get one. We just haven't found one that fits the space and that both DH and I like. I want something with shelves or drawers, definitely -- right now we keep all the remotes and miscellaneous stuff perched on the edge of the part of the couch that extends out as the tail of the L. I hate it! It looks sloppy, but we need to have that stuff handy (includes not just the remote but also my active sudoku book).

If we had room for side tables I guess that might work, too, but we dont' have room with the couch we have (inherited from previous owners) and the layout of the room.

lhamo

[artist]

I personally use mine all the time. For the most part it has nothing on it during the day. It is a drop leaf type that goes from rectangle to round. I love the versitility in this. I can put up a leave when I want to spread out my bills or my college aged son wants to spread out when doing research on his laptop. If someone doesn't feel well and is crashed out on the couch, this table can come right up to the couch, but it's round shape still allows for leg room for getting up from the couch. Both sides go up when we want to play a board game in the living room. When sides are down, it's fairly compact and it is light weight so it's easy to move when neccessary. I've even used it (with both sides up in the round shape) as a Christmas tree stand.


Now if you ask... Do I need this piece of furniture in my home? The answer is "no". In fact there are a lot of pieces I don't need and I could simplify my furnishings drastically if space required it. But I will say that I do enjoy having it. Not sure I would feel this way if it was a typciall single shaped coffee table tough. It's draw for me is the versitility.

[razz]

We have side tables only and no rugs either in our living room with its lovely hardwood floors.
I commented to a friend who has her grandmother's hand carved round coffee table which is about 24 inches in diameter. It is perfect, serves the purpose, no sharp corners or edges and just the right height. We need to see more of that type.

[herbgeek]

We eat dinner on ours, ever since I converted the dining room to my office. Its too much of a pain on a daily basis to remove the files, laptop etc so we eat in the living room. It's oval (so no sharp edges for small visitors) and has a glass top (so it visually doesn't take up much space).

[CathyA]

I love having a coffee table and use it all the time. Its also strong enough to sit on, if need be.

[pinkytoe]

I have a lovely round coffee table with a glass top that I inherited from my mother. I don't care for it but my cats live on it so it stays for now. I didn't read the article yet but I think ottomans have replaced the coffee table for younger folk.

[CathyA]

But how can you put a glass of wine on an ottoman? :)

[iris lily]

But how can you put a glass of wine on an ottoman? :)

I've had exactly that same question. Stemware will topple.

I have an ottoman but it's no coffee table!

[AmeliaJane]

For a long time I had no coffee table--my mother hated them for the space they took up and the clutter they collected. Well, I like to enjoy dinner with a TV show, or a cup of coffee and a cookie, and I cleaned up way too many spills of cups and glasses on the floor that got tipped over (the couch arms are high and my arms are short, so end tables never really worked.) Finally I broke down and bought a small oval glass coffee table and it works really well for me.

[JaneV2.0]

I would have sturdy ottomans and trays--more versatile than a coffee table. Though at the moment I have a stout coffee table someone could sit on in a pinch.

[Miss Cellane]

I have both a coffee table and end tables. The coffee table holds books and feet and the cat sleeps on the lower shelf. It also has drawers which hold coasters and packs of cards and odd things like yo-yos and Nerf balls and a frisbee, for when things get boring. The end tables hold the remotes and mugs and glasses and lamps and iPods. Because it is difficult to lean forward to reach the coffee table with a cat on your lap.

[treehugger]

I have a relatively large, square narra wood coffee table that I inherited from my grandparents. They bought it when they lived in the Philippines in the 50s and used it till the end of their days. I love it for sentimental reasons and for its beauty and for its utility. I feel so fortunate that it didn't fit in any of my aunts', siblings' or cousins' houses when we were divvying stuff up. :)

Kara

[redfox]

We have a beautiful midcentury one I got at Goodwill-glass oval top on a walnut base. It's visually very light, and has no corners. I love it.

Here is a photo of it:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/affordable-alte-131852

[jennipurrr]

I was using an old coffee table I had acquired used some years ago. It wasn't great quality, and the veneer was coming off...so I sold it online for 10 bucks when I was decluttering. I had intentions of buying a replacement at some point but never did. I put things on the end tables or we use TV trays if we have plates out.

[catherine]

But how can you put a glass of wine on an ottoman? :)

You hold onto the wine and drink it! Who wants to put it down? JK... I have an ottoman in place of a coffee table. It's firm enough to eat off of, but I don't eat off of it, mainly because the dog likes to lie on it, and I do have an "end table" that is high enough to double as an eating table.

My son had a great coffee table--it worked like the bottom set of pictures (although his was all wood--no chrome.

http://www.instablogsimages.com/1/2011/11/25/convertible_coffee_table_lcxxk.jpg

[Gregg]

But how can you put a glass of wine on an ottoman? :)

Exactly!

Our coffee table has the lift up top like Catherine's son's. We don't use that a lot, but it is handy once in a while. For anyone who likes to eat or work in front of the TV it would be a miracle. Ours is wood, very solid, so it can seat several people when we have a crowd. The entire lower cabinet is efficiently designed storage. It holds all our extra remotes, board games, cards, dominoes and all kinds of other things that the kids believe should be there rather than where they actually belong. My standard position to watch the evening news before bed is to sit on the couch with my feet up on that table. It is rectangular, but the corners are well rounded so don't present a real hazard. The house we will be moving into later this fall is 80% smaller than the one we came from so I can't imagine giving up the storage it provides.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

I have one - it generally holds books and cats!

[thinkgreen]

Our coffee table serves as a footstool for us, we prop our feet up there while we're sitting down. It is an old wood trunk so it also stores some blankets and linens.

[Polliwog]

We have a beautiful midcentury one I got at Goodwill-glass oval top on a walnut base. It's visually very light, and has no corners. I love it.

Here is a photo of it:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/affordable-alte-131852

I love midcentury. Your coffee table sort of reminds me of a Nuguchi. (not sure if I spelled that right).

[awakenedsoul]

I have a small round one that my mom bought me second hand. I love it. That's where I put my coffee every morning as I write in my journal. I have an end table, but I keep an antique lamp, coasters and a couple of fairy statues on that. My other pieces of furniture are also small, so the living room still feels spacious. I like antiques because I can often find smaller pieces for my tiny cottage.

[winterberry]

We put the sofa cushions on it and put our feet up. There's a shelf underneath for magazines and books.

[Mrs-M]

IMO coffee and end tables are still the quintessential anchor of any room, regardless of design.

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/AD100/2010/craig_wright/wright_slideshow_042005?slide=1

Click on "Slideshow" to view all 13 slides.

[Rogar]

I have one. It's main purpose is to stack books and magazines on. Second purpose is a foot stool. Snacks when guests are over, glass and cup holder, occasional dining table, and junk accumulator. I can't imagine doing without.

[jp1]

We could never get rid of ours. We eat dinner on it most nights plus it's got a couple of drawers and shelves, so it's part of my "a place for every thing" plan. SO never puts anything away so I have developed a system of places to store things around the house and the coffee table drawers and shelves are a key element of the plan. I'd be lost without it. Otherwise things like cat toothpaste and claw clippers would just be sitting on the kitchen counter, or worse, on the arms of the sofa.

[Gardenarian]

We use our coffee table all the time for playing games and doing puzzles. And I like to sit on the floor and it is a good height for writing and eating. We don't really have a proper living room - just a space with a sofa and coffee table - but it is well used. Mine is just basic wood, got it from a garage sale.