Coffee table style adapts to demand for gadget space

High tech-gadget use, tastes in interior design transform the familiar coffee table.
High tech-gadget use, tastes in interior design transform the familiar coffee table.

— Two-level coffee tables are nothing new, but because people want places to set laptops, tablet computers and smart phones, designers are coming out with three-level tables.

So much is happening with this key piece of furniture that Cosmo Kramer needs to update his coffee table book on coffee tables.

During the 1990s Seinfeld era, the coffee table was mainly a place to set drinks and remote controls - and rest your feet when your mom wasn’t looking. The ubiquitous clunky wood table was a far cry from the 1950s cocktail table, limbo-low at 16 inches tall with a sculptural wood or chrome base and a discreetly elegant, round glass top.

Home furnishings design forecaster Michelle Lamb is seeing a return to artistry in coffee tables, and more attention to the furniture’s intended function than ever.

“Not only is it a place to set your drinks and the remote, it’s a place for laptops, tablet computers and smart phones,” says Lamb of the Trend Curve in Eden Prairie, Minn. She regularly travels to trade shows to study how furniture makers are responding to changing lifestyles. “It’s a place to play and work.”

Wireless devices have influenced coffee table design. Some tables have built-in charging stations and, because we’re working more from home, file cabinets. Furniture maker Aspen Home pioneered that design trend, Lamb says.

Technology also is playing a role in the number of coffee tables we’re using. Furniture makers are introducing the concept of grouping three small tables. Global Views, a Dallas-based furniture maker, offers a trio of varying-height marble-top tables with gold finished iron bases. An iPad could be placed on one, a drink on another and reading materials on the third.

“It’s combining sculptural art pieces with multiple functions,” says Rick Janecek, creative director and lead product designer of Global Views.

Space planning also is a reason for having more than one coffee table. Two small coffee tables rather than a single large one prevent the person sitting in the middle of a sofa from becoming trapped, says Bobanne Kalkofen, interior design professor at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan.

“One coffee table can act as a blockade,” Kalkofen says.

Measurements can determine coffee table choice and placement. To reach drinks easily, the table edge should be 18 inches from the sofa. But to allow a person to comfortably get up and walk is 24 inches. In her living room, Kalkofen uses a side table for drinks because her coffee table is cube-shaped. The space underneath a legged table gives feet clearance, so it’s a more practical choice if you want to use it for drinks.

Kalkofen is a fan of small ottomans with flip tops: One side is a tray, the other upholstered. They function as tables, storage and extra seating. But she has no qualms about putting her feet up on her rustic wood coffee table in the family room. A carpet runner provides a bit of cushioning.

Lamb is seeing furniture makers such as Norwalk make an ottoman/coffee table hybrid. The top is similar to an upholstered bench, but a lower wood shelf serves as storage.

Because more of us are downsizing, smaller coffee tables are growing more popular, says Cameron Cook of Four Hands, an Austin, Texas based manufacturer.

As an increasing number of houses contain hardwood floors instead of carpet, customers have turned away from brown wood tables and toward pieces with metal, glass and stone. For wood, gray-washed surfaces are in style, Cook says.

Coffee tables evolved from taller sofa tables during the 20th century, says Jan Cummings, who teaches furniture history courses for Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan. They were marketed in the 1920s, and after Prohibition was repealed, the term “cocktail table” was used. So what’s the difference between coffee and cocktail tables?

“I think of cocktail tables lower to the ground,” Cummings says. “But it’s part marketing.”

In man caves, Cummings has spotted small C-shaped side tables and no coffee tables.

“The coffee table is still needed,” she says. “It anchors conversation and the room.”

Janecek considers the 1960s the heyday of the coffee/cocktail table. Shapes became organic. Materials included plastics, metals and glass. But a surge of design innovation is recurring now.

“We just might be entering a new golden age,” he says.

TABLESCAPING TIPS

Stack - rather than fan - books and magazines. It feels less contrived.

A candy dish can be sweet and stylish.

Leave room for drinks. Have coasters and cocktail napkins on the surface so guests don’t feel reluctant to put their drinks down.

HomeStyle, Pages 39 on 03/31/2012

Upcoming Events