A newlywed just moved into a new house. The wife is looking an idea to decorate the living room by magazine. She makes a list of furniture on a paper. Cabinet, television, sofa, lamp and a coffee table. She seems concerned about something so she asks her husband. ‘Darling, should we put a coffee table? I notice not all decorations in the magazine have a coffee table’. The husband said it is compulsory to put a coffee table but the wife doesn’t agree with him. Stop fighting!

A coffee table and a couch is an automatic living room combination in everyone’s mind. All of us will think that something is off if there is no coffee table. Why? Because it is a stereotype created for everyone that it is required to have one coffee table. You can check it out at any furniture shops. Each decoration of living room has a coffee table as it is created by the staff of the furniture shop. It is a marketing strategy made by them so that you will buy the basic coffee table. Don’t you know that we can create a living room without a coffee table? Here are some alternatives to the traditional rectangular coffee table you might want to replicate with your own four walls.

Side table

Side table is a type of table intended to be located against the wall. It can work as a coffee table perfectly as it has a cool visual flow in your living room. With so many choices, it is a difficult decision to pick the right side table. Don’t worry as we create some guidelines to ease your decision. Height is the main consideration to choose a perfect side table. A side table should be equal or just below the arm of the couch it is next to. The standard of online sofa arm heights should be in the range between 24 and 32 inches. Next, you should notice that there are a dizzying array of shapes and styles out there. So, you need to think in terms of adding a contrast to your living room. Take note the styles and shapes of the existing furniture in your room. It is bored to have same styles so you should choose a different style that can be the center of attraction.

Ottoman

These days, there are lots of multipurpose furniture that can save the space in our living room. From small ones to oversized ones, ottomans are the hidden gem that may be missing from your space. Ottoman were first introduced into Europe from Turkey in the late 18^th century. The characteristic of the ottoman is padded, upholstered seat or a bench without arms or a back. The main function of an ottoman is to place your feet on them. You can decide the ideal measurements of an ottoman as it is available in variety of sizes. For those who are living in an apartment or a small house, having an ottoman is a great idea as it acts as a shared space seating. It has its own versatility to add seating to the shared space or you can even place it against the wall and it will transform as a couch. It is a good hiding spot of your unnecessary items. Ottomans with a hinged top make the best storage that is handy and disguises itself beautifully.

Rug

Have a thought in removing your coffee table? Yes, you can ditch it and replace with a rug on the floor. Just like you have a family time by eating foods together, while chatting with your family members about the memories you created together. By doing this, the bond among family members will get stronger and closer. However, you must take care the cleanliness of the rug as you don’t want your food fall on it or your drinks spilled over the rug. Let me tell you the secret of choosing the best rug. The general size of rug must be about the size of your living room’s seating area to ground the conversation space. To avoid looking awkward, most designers suggest a rug that is large enough to cover a conversation area, with the front legs of your sofa and chairs on the rug to anchor the space. Your new rug looks best if it has cool colours. It helps create a calm vibe and tone down the loud wall colours that can your nerves feel exhausted at times. The good news is that almost all rug styles are using neutral colours so colour is more important than pattern of the rug.

Bench

Has anyone sitting on a coffee table? If not, you can do this action depends on the types of table. A bench is a type of seat with no back or sides that brings its own versatility enough to transform into a coffee table. The idea is you can use this alternative in a small seating group and move it off to one side as an extra seat for a clique of guest. Don’t let the bench empty as you can put a serving tray or a few of inexpensive books to convert it into a functional coffee table, or an ornamental box to stash the remotes. By using a bench as a coffee table, whether made of a hard material or soft and upholstered, just gives a bit of sturdiness and extra function to the seating arrangement of your living room that a basic coffee table can’t do by itself. It will invite physical activities such as sitting, leaning, lying down and many more that a coffee table might be too delicate to anchor. It will give the usual styling and vignette arranging of the living room layout.

Accent table 

An accent tables are long, thin table that always located between the couch, the wall or in a narrow entry by a door. They are useful in tidying other tables in an area of a house. This furniture sells in variety of sizes, colours, styles and types at every furniture shops. Many of us don’t realize the functionality of the tables because they are usually acted as a decor, emphasizing a room. It can be useful as display, nightstand or end table. If you think that this is a perfect alternative, you should consider certain aspects to ensure that they can fit well with other furniture in your living room. Some shops sell a pair of tables that has matching accent and coffee tables. They even have an additional storage that are shelves and drawers to store items, which may want to keep in mind if you are needing extra storage space. Some of these tables are used simply for a place to set a drink on.

Conclusion

Each problem has a solution. Whether you are having a small space in your living room, no ideas to choose a perfect coffee table or just looking for inspirations to beautify the layout of living room, switching out a classic coffee table for a new type of furniture is an unexpected way to improve your room. Your coffee table is forever but new ideas are always welcomed. Playing with the styles, colours, sizes, and shapes of these alternatives can give your framework a whole new design of your living room. Who knows your living room will be the front cover of a magazine or goes viral in the social media? It gives an inspiration of other people who are running out of ideas. There is no exact when it comes to coffee tables because the decision is in your hand. A decoration that carried out successfully should not be done by following everything in the book, but rather be a response to room and housemates. For more details, check here.

Weekend is everyone’s favourite because it is the perfect time to take a rest. You dominate the living room by sitting down on the couch while reading books or lying down on the couch, thinking about your future that you may want to achieve. While doing activities in the living room, you feel something feels off but you don’t know what it is. If you are still thinking about it, this article is just for you. And if you think that everything is perfect in your living room then this is a test for you to see your opinion towards this question.  Can a coffee table be higher than the couch?

 

Yes, absolutely. It is true that a coffee table can be higher than the couch. If you ask the interior designers, they will definitely say the question is true. But, you can’t just buy a high coffee table right away because you need to know the aspects of your living room. This question can be applied to your living room by using important rules when the need arises. The only way to find right size of a coffee table is by measuring this furniture’s height, length and width. Follow the rules below to determine the perfect coffee table.

 

Coffee Table Height

Still can’t decide the best measurement of your coffee table? You need to make sure that your coffee table should be the same height with the top of the cushions on your couch. Pro designers agree that it is the ideal coffee table you should consider balancing your living room. Having too low coffee table will cause the difficulty for you and your guests to take things on top of this table while having too high coffee table could overpower the rest of your furniture in the space. You need to keep in mind when you are deciding your next coffee table purchase. The main rule of a coffee table’s height should be 16 to 18 inches from the floor to the top of the coffee table. You can try kicking up your feet on the table while ensuring your legs relatively level with the floor instead of making an uncomfortable position, steep upward or downward incline. The measurement pairs well with a basic couch. The standard guideline is just like having an average-sized sofa located in front of the coffee table with the height of the seat about 17 to 19 inches measured from the floor to the top of the seat cushions. The hypothesis states that the higher the sofa is, the higher the coffee table and vice versa. Don’t forget to record the measurement in a paper or smartphone and bring it along with you when you buy a new coffee table.

 

Coffee Table Length

This rule has the same application as the first rule. Your couch will be the main guide to estimate the length of your ideal coffee table. Scale is the most important consideration as too tall will conquer your couch, too long coffee table can overwhelm your couch and hinder your movement throughout the living room. Pick a coffee table that is roughly two-thirds the length of your couch to determine the right length. For example, the length of the couch in your room is 84 inches. You need to calculate the length of the table by multiplying 84 with two over three. So, you would need a coffee table around 56 inches long. This rule offers many advantages. First, choosing the right length will create a right proportion to the surrounding seating it rather than having awkward vignette arrangement in your room. You can even have a walk in living space as too long coffee table can cause foot traffic. Besides, it also allows everyone seated around the table to use it and make the coffee table functional. This will make it so the table is easily within reach when sitting on either end of the sofa but still allow for plenty of space to walk around it.

 

Coffee Table Width and Placement

Before you measure the width of the coffee table, you need to decide the location of your coffee table in your living room. If you can’t decide the location, you can refer to the Internet or seek for designer’s help as these references will answer your concern. Your coffee table should not be a barrier as you guide when you or anyone walks around your living room. The location of your coffee table is depends on the arrangement of other existing furniture in the space. This is the general rule for all of us the perfect place to put the coffee table. The coffee table should be located about 12 to 18 inches away from your couch or seat. If you place it too near with the couch, you may stumble or it is going to be the embarrassing moment you tripped over in front of the guest. If it’s too far away, you and your guests can’t even use the coffee table. Just imagine they have to wake up from the seat to take things or foods on the coffee table and sit back on the couch. Interior designers recommend leaving 30 inches of space between the coffee table and other pieces of furniture such as TV stand. By doing this, everyone will be having comfortable foot traffic around the rest of your living room. To calculate the width of the perfect coffee table for your space, you need to measure from your couch to your TV stand or other big piece of furniture, then subtract with 48 inches (30 inches+18 inches). This is the right width of your ideal coffee table.

 

Pets

Who do not love their pets? The pets will make their day as they are loving and cute. But, you will face a bad day in which the pet will make a disaster in the house. It can bite the furniture, spill anything on the floor or your coffee table, and scratch the coffee table until you won’t see the beauty of the coffee table. If the pets are trained and behave well, you won’t need to worry about the height of your coffee table. However, if you have an aggressive dog or cat, you should consider using a taller coffee table that is above their eye and nose level. This solution will make your pet won’t be able to steal your snack when you are not looking. You can even look up for pet-friendly coffee table that provide protection from the rough and tumble of pet life. Pet–friendly coffee table is usually made up from good quality of materials that will not cause harm on your pet and put protections on the coffee table for the sake of the pet’s safety.

A good choice of a coffee table can really make the living room shines as it is the main room in your house. It is the focal point of the room that you can’t even place other furniture such as couch or cabinet in the centre of your living room. A living room without a coffee table just look weird as it has many benefits that you can make use of it wisely. As a coffee table can be both a display and functional piece, it should be considered as a compulsory item in your house by spending time to find an ideal coffee table that fits perfectly with the interior design of your living room. The decision of choosing the table depends on you whether you follow the guidelines as mentioned above or break the rules. Some rules can be broken and the living room can still work perfectly, but hopefully these rules will give you the ideas and a good start of the living room’s layout. Check Auntiereviews for more.