Your centre table is not just a place to stash your coffee mug, park your feet, or use as a makeshift desk—it can be a unique and innovative conversation starter. Make your coffee table the centre of the conversation, with these delightful design ideas! You can showcase much-loved decorative accessories, stack travel books, or just leave the table bare, ready for those steaming cups of coffee.
Whether you’re looking for centre tables in glass, wood, stone —or even DIY ideas that you can put together yourself—you can take inspiration from this lovely collection.
Wooden Centre Tables
Bamboo and Wood
Sections of bamboo are used to prop up the simple circular top in this compact, earth-friendly little centre table. What we love about this is the anything-goes design; each leg is uniquely different.
Pine Wood Pallets
This modern Scandinavian-style coffee table uses wooden pallets for the tabletop, left au naturel so that the lovely natural grains of the pinewood shine through.
Coffee on Wheels
Here’s an unusual coffee table crafted of wood and embellished with metal studs and wheels. Note the curated collection of eclectic décor items, sure to spark a conversation or two!
Count the Rings!
A slice through an aged tree trunk preserves beautiful rings and whorls, and makes for this interesting centre table that’s quite unlike any other. The cracks and cuts in the wood add to the charm. The designer base comprises an interlaced spoke pattern in metal.
Glass Centre Tables
Elegance in Glass
This lovely, all-glass coffee table quite steals the spotlight in this contemporary living room! Fashioned out of three bevelled glass rectangles that are neatly joint at the edges with invisible seams, this design is simplicity itself, and will suit any colour palette.
Concentric Circles
We love this super elegant glass coffee table crafted out of two circles connected in the middle by a steel pipe. The light and airy aesthetic goes well with the spacious, uncluttered feel of this luxe living room.
Coffee Tables in Marble
Triad of Tables
This luxury beach house features a triad of marble coffee tables sculpted out of single blocks of lustrous Italian marble. As elegant as they are versatile, these tables can also be used as display units to showcase fine artefacts.
Timeless Elegance in Marble
Looking for elegance that will never go out of style? This marble centre table is sure to tick all your boxes! A great décor option for transitional or contemporary homes, marble requires minimal maintenance and stays looking good pretty much forever.
Square Centre Tables
Showcase Your Collections
Are you a collector? This square coffee table has display sections below the glass top where you can show off your precious collectibles. Quite the perfect way to draw attention to your collections of stamps, pebbles, small statuettes and travel treasures.
Metal and Stone
A sleek, lightweight metal frame supports this coffee tabletop—made of stone in this case, but it would look just as good in glass, wood or metal.
Geometric Style
If you’re looking for a simple, streamlined design with clean edges and contemporary style, then you don’t want to give this wood and laminate coffee table a miss! You can customise the wooden top to suit your décor.
Space-saving Centre Tables
Two in One
These elegant nested circular tables in engineered wood and metal can be stacked up and pulled apart for use when extra guests arrive. Perfect for the space-conscious homeowner!
Centre Tables in Metal
Fashioned from a Brass Plate
If you’re a South Indian, chances are you’ll find a stash of ancient, completely forgotten brass urulis (large cooking vessels) or thamboolams (offering plates) in your grandmom’s attic. These lovely artefacts can be fashioned into a gleaming metal centre table that’s sure to invite some interesting reminiscences!
DIY Centre Tables
Don’t Throw Away That Door!
Want to salvage an interesting old door? Use the door shutter as a base, and just add the legs. Watch this YouTube video to find out how you can do this yourself. For a traditional touch, try sourcing an antique, ornamental door from an old home.
Distressed Paint on Packing Crates
Packing crates again form the base of this unique, low budget centre table that also houses storage for books and files. Another lovely upcycling idea for a studio apartment that’s short on space.
Just a Bundle of Reapers
A bundle of wooden reapers is simply cut to size and banded together for this innovative table that’s high on creativity. While this designer has chosen to go with a rough and natural look, you could have the reapers sanded down and polished for a different aesthetic. Pretty as a picture, and good for the environment too!
How to Pick the Perfect Centre Table for Your Home
Now that you’re armed with plenty of decor ideas, are you ready to pick the perfect centre table for your home?
Here are some things you must keep in mind:
• Always take measurements with you before you start shopping. Something that looks great in the furniture shop may be oversized (or look too tiny) in your drawing room. A standard size for a coffee table would be around 3 feet by 1.5 feet in plan (that’s 90 x 45 centimetres).
• Choose the table surface based on what you’ll be using it for. If you are likely to be putting down steaming cups of coffee, or cut flowers in a vase with water, it might be a good idea to protect the surface with a glass top or with a table runner. Unfinished, rough wooden surfaces can stain so keep coasters handy.
• Tie your coffee table in with the aesthetics of your room. The material you choose should match your room décor and colour palette. If sustainability is your theme, look for rattan or cane options. Sleek glass and metal styles will suit modern, contemporary decor.
• Think of what you will be putting down on top of your coffee table and ensure there is enough room for all the items. By artfully arranging books or board games, cut flowers or clusters of potted plants, pretty candle stands or your collection of curios, you can make your coffee table interesting and quirky.
Did any of these ideas strike a chord? Incorporate them into your décor, and your centre table is sure to steal the spotlight at your next family gathering! Get in touch with a HomeLane designer who can help you with the how tos.
