19 Best Coffee Tables That Are Stylish & Functional 2023
The best coffee tables are a focal point of most living rooms – as well as being the home of the TV remote, a place to pop your wine glass, and a prime spot for putting your feet up at the end of a long day. Your coffee table, therefore, needs to serve up some serious style.
In this carefully-curated edit of the best coffee tables you can buy, you’ll find everything from nesting sets and lift-top tables, to on-trend asymmetrical and pedestal styles – that are as functional as they are aesthetically-pleasing. We've also spoken to an interior design expert on how to go about choosing the best coffee table for your space – and tips on styling your coffee table. So, you can consider your living space transformed.
Meet the expert:
- Furniture and Home Accessories Buyer at Harvey Nichols, Natalie Carton
Best coffee tables at a glance:
Amari Round Coffee Table
Habitat Cubes Coffee Table
John Lewis ANYDAY Drum Coffee Table
Habitat Mid Century Coffee Table
What style of coffee table should I choose?
Before you start weighing up all the different styles, have a quick think about whether you’ll need your new piece of furniture to do anything more than its basic job description. Read: if you like to eat dinner in front of the TV (don’t we all!) then a lift-top table may be in order, while a hidden storage compartment might be more up your street if you’re short on living room storage space. You’ll be able to keep those remote controls well out of sight.
Not looking for any of these fancy additional features? Then your main focus should be picking a coffee table that really fits with whatever aesthetic you’re looking to achieve in your lounge. There are lots of different potential avenues you could go down, but by-and-large, there are certain materials that we instantly associate with a specific design style. For example, natural materials like bamboo and rattan are great for a more bohemian home decor, while dark woods, acrylic and glass are typically seen as more retro. Paired perfectly alongside a velvet armchair.
Obviously, you should also consider how much space you’ve got. Small coffee tables with tall metal legs will slot nicely aside your sofa (West Elm, Anthropologie and Amazon have some great options), while chunky, square coffee tables of modern design – which sit lower to the ground – are better suited to larger spaces.
How to style a coffee table:
As lovely as it would be to simply throw down a gorgeous coffee table book and be done with it, properly styling a coffee table actually takes a little more effort. But thankfully, the interior design experts at Fenwick have some really simple styling guidance that’ll help us take our coffee table game from showroom to chic.
“A good rule of thumb is to follow the shape of the table when selecting what to put on it,” suggests Furniture and Home Accessories Buyer, Natalie Carton. “For example, with a rectangular coffee table, rectangular shapes such as books and trays work well. On round tables, make use of curvaceous donut vases as a centrepiece, and add other rounded pieces like trinket dishes and candles to complete the look.”
According to Natalie, combining functionality with aesthetics is key — and she therefore recommends reaching for accessories that are both practical and visually captivating. So, don’t be afraid to swap the standard box of matches for a luxurious oversized one, create a stylish stack out of your most beautifully bound books, and dig out your very best set of coasters.
Ahead, the best coffee tables to invest in this autumn.
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