End Tables Are the New Coffee Tables

Coffee tables date back to the Victorian era; they were preceded by occasional, end, center, and tea tables. The first coffee tables were about 27 inches tall. The idea of long, low coffee tables began in Japanese tea gardens. In the 1930s coffee tables were described as low, wide tables used in front of sofas and couches. Designs eventually included an upper layer for food and drink and a lower layer for magazines and newspapers.

Options Redefined
End tables were once considered fillers that occupied corners. By the mid 1900s, magazine racks, shelves, and doors broadened the uses for end tables. In the past 50 years, redesigned end tables have been recognized for the balance they add to a room; end tables have moved out of corners and taken their rightful place as the most useful table in the house, and they are pushing aside traditional coffee tables. In an effort to open up space and allow unrestricted movement within a furniture grouping, two or more end tables are often placed in front of a sofa or within a seating arrangement.

Restoring Balance
Decorating with end tables means thinking outside of the box. End tables can be used in any room, singularly or in pairs. They stand alone next to chairs, sofas, beds, or as a display in front of windows. As families spend more time in their living rooms and home theaters, the need for end tables is increasing. Use of end tables is not defined in terms of right or wrong; simply as a matter of choice to fulfill a need, and the limits extend as far as the imagination wanders.

Four square end tables can create one large sofa table; the four tables can be separated for independent use when necessary. Incorporate various surfaces and table shapes. Try two octagonal end tables side-by-side for a formal look, two square end tables sandwiched between two half-round tables for an oval design, or two rectangular end tables placed L-shaped within a seating arrangement so multiple sofas have accessible table space. From the corner to center stage, the understated little table reins supreme.

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