subject: Choosing the Perfect Coffee Table [print this page] The lowly coffee tableThe lowly coffee table. It's a a piece of furniture we often just take for granted. However, the right style and location can make it much more than an unnoticed space-holder.Have you ever been invited to someone's house, been offered coffee and handed the cup, then found there was nowhere to put it? Our society has grown up around coffee tables. We expect them to be there, and if they're not we're suddenly a bit lost until we get the bright idea to either put the cup on the floor or hold onto it.Right from the time of their introduction in the Victorian Era, coffee tables have become an important -- if subtle -- requirement in polite living rooms. We need them. But us humans don't like to allow need to get in the way of aesthetics. We want them to be beautiful, stylish and fashionable. And if that's not enough of a burden, we also want them to be multi-functional and versatile.Presenting: the Kings and Queens of living room furniture: Coffee Tables. They lift, they hide, they store, they display. They masquerade as treasure chests and games halls. These types still offer a firm, reliable service for holding your beverages.With so much choice, you could be forgiven for making expensive mistakes. A few tips follow, to help you ensure you get maximum service from yours:If you have small children, consider tables with plenty of built-in cupboard and drawer space. You need somewhere to hide all those crayons and toy cars.Tables with adjustable-height tops can double as dining tables, especially for the little ones. If you're going to use yours for TV dining, look for one with a wipe-clean surface.There's no law that says any furniture pieces must be centrally placed in the room. If space is limited, have several smaller ones dotted around as end tables.Here are just a few of the more popular types of coffee tables:Lift Tops: Solid in construction and usually made from natural wood with some veneer work, lift tops are master strokes of craftsmanship and genius. Their rising tops offer added versatility for use as dining, craft or work purposes.Trunks: Whether modern reproductions or beautifully restored from originals, trunk versions have the ability to transport us back to a bygone era. Despite the period charm, they are equally at home in either contemporary or more traditional settings and are made from a wider range of materials, including leather and metals as well as wood.Storage: Happily doubling as extra cupboard space, these are always popular. Whether they have just a couple of drawers for stowing household nick-knacks or full-blown enclosed cupboards for more major tidy-ups, these types provide an attractive and practical solution to a major domestic headache - dealing with clutter.
