Choosing a Coffee Table for Your Space

A coffee table often sits at the centre of a living space, so its size and shape can have a noticeable effect on how the whole room works.

Before choosing one, look beyond the table itself.

Start with your seating

Consider the size and arrangement of your sofa and armchairs.

A substantial coffee table may sit comfortably in front of a long sofa but overwhelm a smaller seating area. Equally, a table that's too small can look disconnected from larger furniture around it.

The aim is to find a scale that feels appropriate for the seating arrangement.

Measure the surrounding space

Make sure there is enough room to move comfortably between the coffee table and surrounding furniture.

Think about how people enter and leave the seating area and whether the table will interrupt a frequently used route through the room.

Consider how you use the table

Some coffee tables are primarily visual. Others are used every day for drinks, books, laptops and other objects.

Think about how much usable surface you genuinely need.

If storage matters, designs incorporating drawers, shelving or layered surfaces may be more practical than a simple tabletop.

Choose a shape that works with the room

Rectangular coffee tables naturally follow the line of many sofas.

Round and organically shaped tables can soften rooms containing a lot of straight architectural lines, while square designs can work particularly well with larger or more symmetrical seating arrangements.

Let the layout help determine the shape rather than choosing on appearance alone.

Think about the materials around it

A coffee table sits close to sofas, flooring, rugs and other furniture, so consider how its materials will interact with those already present.

Marble and wood don't need to match other natural materials exactly. Differences in grain, tone and pattern can add depth to a room when the overall combination feels considered.