The coffee table doesn’t represent a habitual piece of furniture since long ago. This piece has its well settled place in the living room in most of the houses. Placed generally around the sofas or the armchairs, the history of the coffee table goes back to several centuries ago. It appeared along with the opening of the first cafeterias. Such a location was firstly seen in Oxford, in 1650. However, the coffee tables found their importance in the field of interior design only during the Victorian era. Another interesting theory related to the origins of the coffee table says that this piece was inspired by the tea tables. Roundly-shaped and supported by a tripod, the past coffee tables were much higher than those of nowadays. The first ones were made of wood, in 1868, after the model created by E. W. Godwin. Today, these pieces of furniture seem so familiar to us and so common that their presence in the living room could even pass unobserved. Still, their absence could be immediately noticed. Even though from year to year new tendencies in the realm of the interior design appear, the shape and the model of those present in our houses is the classical one: rectangular, low, made of wood. This model remains among many people’s preferences, as they are adaptable to almost any style of interior design.
Although, on the market, the options are countless, some models being overwhelming. A coffee table of a special design can totally change the aspect of a room, becoming thus its main attraction. When you want to acquire a coffee table, it is necessary to pay attention to all the details: the material it’s made of, the model, the colors and the finishing. An empty table right in the middle of the room doesn’t transmit anything. Just throw something on it. Try to put into light by the aid of decorative objects, or, why not, by using several magazines, transparent vases or wooden bowls. Besides its functional role, that of sheltering several cups of coffee from time to time, the coffee table also plays an important esthetic role. When work seems fun for you, anything could easily transformed, fixed, improved, decorated, sold or used in your own house. These days we have several examples of coffee tables made out of recycled materials and with minor financial investments. The people who created these pieces of furniture are both women and men (so you have no excuse) from the most different parts of the world. You can use wood from different elements of construction, doors that other got rid of or old furniture. The wooden boxes can be used as such or they can be taken the remained boards. Generally, the wooden pieces are the easiest cut and mixed, while the finishing of this material is at anybody’s reach. The palettes represent another idea for which I gave you different examples on other occasions. The Ottoman type of stools, with no legs, is ideal for replacing the table coffee. Choose a stool of bigger dimensions, which, in most cases, can be endowed with storage space. Moreover, if you have guests that have no seat on the couch, the stool will help them to sit comfortably. If you have a retro suitcase, from your mother’s times or better, from your grandparents’ times, use it as an alternative for your living room coffee table. Wash it and refresh its color, then fix it on metallic feet or on wheels, then you can put on it the coffee cups and the snacks prepared for your guests.
