Modern Tables
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A modern table fixes the working height of a room, the level where the evening lamp and the last glass of the night end up. This page gathers every table type in the home, and Dining Tables are only one of them. The rest are low, slim or small, each built for a different reach.
How a Modern Table Changes a Room
Tables are the furniture people forget to plan. A sofa gets measured twice, the table beside it arrives as an afterthought, and the room never quite settles.
The reason is height. Every table holds a surface at one fixed level, and that level decides where the eye rests at seven in the evening, when the overhead light is off and a single lamp is doing the work.
Low tables pull a room down toward the rug and make the ceiling feel taller. Tall, narrow tables lift the eye to the wall and give art or a lamp a stage.
A room with only one surface height reads flat, however good the pieces are. Two or three heights, spread across the floor, give it depth.
Modern Tables for the Living Room
The Coffee Table Sets the Scale
In most living rooms the largest low surface is the coffee table, and it sets the scale for everything around it. Our Coffee Tables are where to start, and the choice comes down to how much visual weight the middle of the room can carry.
A thick marble top anchors a deep sectional. A black metal base under a slim top lets a patterned rug show through.
Leave roughly 16" to 18" between the sofa and the coffee table: close enough to reach a cup, far enough to walk past.
Small Tables at the Arm of a Chair
Beside a sofa or chair, the question is reach. One of our Side Tables should sit at or just below the arm, so a glass goes down without a stretch.
For a spot that needs one surface most nights and two when guests arrive, Nesting Tables tuck a set of two into one footprint and pull apart when the room fills. For the tightest gaps, beside a deep lounge chair or at the end of a sectional, Martini Tables hold a glass and very little else, which is the point.
Tables Along the Wall and Behind the Sofa
Some tables work against a wall. Console Tables in an entry give keys and mail a place to land, and give the wall a horizontal line to hang a mirror above. A sofa pulled off the wall into the room needs the same thing from behind: Sofa Tables sit near the height of the sofa back and turn its blank side into a ledge for lamps and books.
Measure depth before length. In a narrow hall every inch of tabletop depth comes out of the walkway, so a slim console usually serves better than a long, deep one.
Marble, Oak or Black Metal: Choosing a Table Material
Marble and Travertine Tables
Stone gives a table more weight than its size suggests. Even a small marble top reads as solid, and the veining catches lamplight in a way a painted surface cannot.
Travertine is the softer stone, cream toned and pitted, warm in daylight and quiet at night. Both are cool to the touch and both can mark from a wet glass or a splash of wine, so seal the top and keep coasters close.
Wood Tables in Oak, Walnut, Mahogany and Teak
Wood brings grain and warmth, and the species sets the mood. Oak shows its grain openly and keeps a dark room from closing in. Walnut and mahogany go deeper, and in a low-lit room they read nearly black until a lamp finds the grain.
Teak carries a honeyed warmth. Solid bamboo gives the look of fine-grained wood in a lighter, more even tone.
Black Metal and Brass Table Bases
Black metal does the opposite of stone. It draws a thin, graphic line and lets the room show through, which helps a space already full of upholstery.
Brass warms that line and throws a small glow back toward the lamp. Put either one under a stone or wood top and you get a heavy surface on a light base, a shape that looks grounded without blocking the floor.
Mixing Modern Tables in One Room
Repeat One Material Once
Tables do not need to match. Pick one material and repeat it once: marble on the coffee table and again on a side table across the room, or walnut in two places. Let everything else vary.
When every table is a different finish the room looks collected by accident. When every table matches, it looks bought in a single afternoon.
Vary Table Heights
Keep one surface low, one at arm height and one taller along a wall. In the evening, light pools on each of those surfaces at a different level, and the corners of the room stop going flat.
Where to Start With Tables
Begin with the largest table in the room and work outward. Its height and material set the terms, and every smaller table either agrees with it or answers it on purpose.
What types of tables are in this collection?
This page covers every table type in the home: coffee, side, accent, console, sofa, nesting, bistro, bar tables, drink and martini tables. Each type has its own collection, reached from the circles at the top of the page, so you can narrow by use first and then by material, size and finish.
What materials are modern tables made from?
Across the range, the main materials are marble, oak, walnut, black metal, brass, bamboo, travertine, mahogany and teak. Stone tops bring weight and stay cool to the touch, wood brings grain and warmth, and black metal or brass bases keep a table visually light. Several pieces pair a stone top with a metal or wood base.
How high should a side table be next to a sofa?
Aim for the top to sit level with the sofa or chair arm, or slightly below it. At that height a glass or book goes down without a reach, and the table does not crowd the arm visually. Measure the arm height of your own seat first, since arm heights vary more than table heights do.
How far should a coffee table sit from the sofa?
Leave roughly 16" to 18" between the front edge of the sofa and the coffee table. That gap keeps a cup within reach from a seated position and still leaves room to step through. In a narrow room, a round top makes the walk past easier than a hard rectangular corner.