One Piece of Furniture You Need to Have

As Wendy’s assistant in good ‘ol Western Massachusetts, I’m lucky to get an inside scoop of her interior design ideas and tips, even as a designer myself. We think differently and have different visions and design aesthetics, so it’s really nice to get her perspective. Recently, she was talking about why everyone needs a coffee table. It got me thinking about my own family room. I didn’t have a coffee table! I was the perfect example of the people that needed to hear what she had to say.

My husband and I had purchased a modular sectional years ago that, thankfully, transitioned well into our new home in Connecticut. It has an ottoman that is the same size as all of the other pieces and it opens up for storage. I had been using that as our “coffee table”, even though it was constantly used as a chaise lounge and even a trampoline for my toddler. When it wasn’t being used as a trampoline, you’d need to have a tray on it in order to place a drink down. With a two year old running around, a tray with drinks is not the most practical. I also liked having the extra space for play time and toys, etc. But, I knew Wendy was right. I needed a coffee table.

Before we purchased our sectional, my husband and I went to a furniture store that was closing and having a huge sale. It’s not often that he expresses a lot of interest in furniture, so when he fell in love with this GIANT coffee table, and we thought it would probably fit in our house, we had to get it. It ended up being just OK in the family room of our last house, it was quite large for the room, but we used it anyway. Sadly our puppy ended up chewing on the feet and nearly ruined one side of the bottom. So, when we moved to our new home last year, we dumped it in the basement.

Shortly after I finished my daughter’s playhouse remodel, (see here) I kept getting bursts of energy and wanted to move things around. This happens periodically, but little did I know I was pregnant (happy to announce we’ll have another little kiddo in January). So I proceeded to move around our living room furniture. I solicited my husband for help with the sectional since it clips together and is hard to separate. We made a large L with the ottoman on the short side by our window so it acts as a seat with no back. We ended up having even more space in the room and, with Wendy’s voice in my head, I knew exactly what it needed.

Since we had so much more space, a light went off! Let’s bring up that huge coffee table that would now look awesome in here and fit perfectly! So we did, and it does. We turned the chewed up side to face the sofa so you can’t see it when you walk in. It looks great. Then it made me realize I didn’t want our family room cluttered up with toys all over the place, so I decided to move our dining table into our kitchen and make the dining room the playroom. Voila! It has worked like a charm and it’s SO much easier to clean up at the end of the day. My reason for telling you this is because one little thing can spark even more ideas and small projects.

So, here are the five reasons you need a coffee table that I already knew but didn’t tell myself for a whole year:

1. It grounds the room. Along with a rug, the coffee table really grounds the room and helps create a conversation area. Instead of just sitting on your sofa and chairs, it creates a center for conversation by acting as a surface to put out food for a small gathering, drinks, etc. Which leads me to..

2. It gives guests (and you) a place to rest a drink. I know how inconvenient it is to have to get up in the middle of your favorite show and walk to the end table to get your cup of coffee. It’s also really uncomfortable to make your guests hold their drink the whole time they’re visiting.

3. It adds another texture besides upholstery. Your upholstery and rugs are typically all soft textures, right? Tables add wood, stone, and/or glass textures which are important for a great room design. It’s a huge part of accessorizing. Read all about that here. If your coffee table is an upholstered ottoman, be sure to use a tray for some added texture. The one below has wooden legs and a patterned fabric to bring some fun and interest to the room.

4. It gives you something to decorate! This is the perfect spot to display your favorite books, magazines, candle, plant, and knick-knack. Get some awesome coffee table decorating tips in this blog post and our how to decorate your coffee table video. It’s really a great spot to show your personality and to tie in colors and aspects from the rest of the room.

5 It can add storage. If you have a coffee table with drawers, that’s the perfect spot to hide away remotes, mail, and anything you need to hide before company comes over! (You know what I’m talking about). In my case, it’s magazines that I have yet to read. If you don’t have drawers, think about using a small decorative box that you can hide some things away in.

So that’s how Wendy’s advice pushed me to get a coffee table. It was so worth it and made me purge the unnecessary items out of that room at the same time! Hopefully this makes you realize that you need a coffee table too!

Not sure what kind of coffee table to get or where to get it from? Contact us. We’ll help you make a plan and you’ll be enjoying your new family room before you know it.

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