A sofa table is an often-overlooked element in a living room. It’s a long, narrow, console-like table placed directly behind the sofa or near it. A sofa table comes in various colors and textures, with numerous options for decorating it. However, ensuring it’s proportionate to your couch is the most important consideration.
Don’t know whether you need a sofa table? There are many reasons why this low-profile piece of living room furniture could be surprisingly beneficial to your space!
The Purpose of a Sofa Table
A well-chosen sofa table helps keep necessities within reach. While the coffee table certainly does its part as an occasional catchall, a sofa table gives you extra surface space and hidden nooks for essential items.
It also provides a key surface space for you to decorate. Given its height and accessibility, remember that all eyes will fall on the sofa table decor arrangement. Decide whether your sofa table will be utilitarian with a lamp and decorative tray, sentimental with framed photographs, or purely decorative with a vase of fresh flowers and a stack of coffee table books. The options for decorating sofa tables are endless.
Not least, with many new homes featuring open floor plans seamlessly blending living rooms and kitchens, furniture arrangement can be challenging. If your home has an open structure like this, you can use a sofa and sofa table to create the illusion of a partition between key rooms.
Convinced? Thought so! Functional, beautiful, and essential to creating spatial borders, a sofa table has an understated way of pulling a family room together. At the same time, with so many options available, which sofa table is right for you?
Choosing the Right Sofa Table
Why is choosing the right sofa table essential? It should fit easily into your space, suit the size and style of your other living room furniture, and provide convenient space-saving and decluttering extras such as storage. It should also accommodate your preferred lighting and decor options to make decorating your sofa table a pleasure.
Size and Proportion
For a harmonious match, your sofa table should be around two-thirds the width of your sofa, about an inch from your sofa height, and have at least 3 to 6 inches of clearance from the floor. Make sure you can reach or place items on the table easily and comfortably. Choose a table 12 to 20 inches deep, ensuring enough room behind the sofa to move around comfortably.
Whether you choose a rectangular, square, or round table depends on your preference, room layout, and proportion. Remember to cater to your surface needs and accommodate books, remotes, and decor.
Material and Style
Sofa tables come in various materials, including wood, metal, glass, marble, rattan, plastic, and upholstered fabric. They can also be a combination of materials. Plastic and glass may be more suitable for modern or retro styles, while upholstered and marble options might also suit traditional or luxe themes. Wood is good for rustic styles, while metals are minimalist and industrial.
Styles are almost too numerous to list. Solid, simple, or ornate — the sofa table world is your oyster. You can’t go wrong if the style is in proportion to the rest of your furniture and space, and suits your overall theme.
Storage Options
Selecting a table with built-in storage can help maximize storage in your living space and keep surfaces beautifully clean. Since this furniture piece is taller, it can accommodate various, generous storage solutions. Tables can be designed with rows or columns of drawers, shelves, cupboards, or a combination, much like a media console.
Even a simple open sofa table design allows under-table storage of stools, ottomans, poufs, or baskets. If you plan to place the sofa table against the wall behind your sofa, storage may be less of a priority.
Open-Concept Living Rooms
For open-plan living areas, your sofa table can serve as an attractive, eye-catching space divider, even an eating area, with accompanying stools or bar-height chairs. Whatever the purpose of your piece, ensure you style the table thoughtfully to optimize its impact.
Creative Sofa Table Styling Ideas
How you style your sofa table will depend on its position and purpose. Tables located against a wall or serving as space dividers can be styled with larger decor, such as large lamps, flower arrangements, and artworks, as there’s less need to see over them.
Regular behind-the-sofa tables can be decorated with framed photos, flowers in vases, smaller sculptures, books with appealing bookends, and smaller lighting solutions. Avoid cluttering the surface, as you’ll also want to keep your remotes, magazines, coffee-table books, or drinking cups there.
Symmetry is always pleasing to the eye, but combining some symmetry with an otherwise eclectic layout also works. Read the Home Zone blog for more decorating ideas for sofa tables.
Find the Perfect Sofa Table and Style Items From Home Zone
Whether you need a two- or three-seater, sleeper, or sectional sofa, we have the ideal designs and sofa table for you. Browse our range and order yours today, or contact us with any questions.
