Walk into any home and you are likely to come across tea tables. You will notice it almost immediately as often they are in the middle of a room and hard to avoid. With such an imposing presence, the tables can overwhelm a room if it is too big for it. To work well in a room the tables have to fit the dimensions of the room and the other furniture accompanying it. If you have big, plush sofas, a dinky table will look out of place. Likewise, if you have a cosy cottage style suite and furnishings, then chrome, glass topped modern table will look like its been dropped there from the future.
We have all seen the pictures of a pristine living room, straight out of the Ideal Home Show, gleaming glass topped table, glossy fashion and home magazines placed just so. Well if that’s what you want for your room, then go for it. Many of us however prefer something a little more functional. We want our coffee tables to be fit for purpose. We want somewhere to rest our coffee or indeed teacups; some (or is that many) of us even rest our feet on them. coffee tables are functional rather than just show furniture, and you need to choose one with that in mind.
The origin of these tables is open to interpretation. They do seem to have originated in Victorian England, and were certainly on sale in large numbers there as early as 1868. You could argue that coffee tables have been around a long time, but they were beverage or tea tables. The Japanese tradition of tea drinking spans centuries, and they had tables for their tea ceremonies. You would however have had to sit cross-legged on the floor to actually sit at one. Coffee tables as specific items of furniture are then a fairly recent addition to the furniture world.
Nowadays, most of us would have use for tea tables in our living room. There are some beautiful examples about, fantastic natural wood, lovely solid pieces that command respect and attention. Of course, the look of the table is important, it does sometimes stand out in a room. coffee tables can come with storage space, from a simple shelf to drawers and lift back tops. The table is an important piece of furniture, and they can make a room look comfortable and homely.
Therefore, whether its main use is as a footrest, or somewhere to keep the TV controls at hand, coffee tables are invaluable pieces of furniture. They are stylish, beautiful, and practical. Go for the storage option and keep your TV magazines and other things in the drawer or cupboard. Alternatively, you could go for the simplest of styles, a beautiful wooden open cube design. coffee tables aren’t just for resting your cups on; they are so much more than that, and as such important pieces of furniture for our homes.
