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I love having a coffee table. I like putting my feet up, and I use the table as a way to connect the seating area's into groups (though this is not necessary, just my own preference). Lately, it has become a bit too tall as my sofa's support is worn and now sits lower. I'm taking delivery on my new sofa soon and if the table is still too high for putting up my feet, I will replace it with large ottoman. I also don't have some of the obstacles stated by other posters, so no problems with food, children getting injured, needing to move it, etc...
I also don't have some of the obstacles stated by other posters, so no problems with food, children getting injured, needing to move it, etc...
You're lucky. If I could change one thing about my husband it would be his habit if moving the furniture. He won't completely rearrange it, but he'll push something over a few feet or turn a chair slightly in a different direction. It's so annoying. He's all about function, not style.
I eliminated the coffee table to eliminate the friction over where it should be placed. If he wasn't going to leave the coffee table in its proper place, there wasn't going to be a coffee table. He still complains about a lack of coffee table. If I ever get one again, it will be the heaviest one I can find so he can't easily slide it around.
Mine is tall enough that my blind dog can easily go under it without bonking her head. That was the height requirement when I bought it. I typically eat dinner there too. I sit on the floor, put my legs under the table and set my plate and drink on the table. The dog knows better than to beg or sit by me while I'm eating.
As other posters have metioned, if I were entertaining and the coffee table cluttered the area, I'd probably get rid of it. But that's not what my coffee table/living room are used for at my house. I think my dog likes being under it.
He still complains about a lack of coffee table. If I ever get one again, it will be the heaviest one I can find so he can't easily slide it around.
this post and your other one crack me up
anyway i guess it boils down to scale. if your living room's small like mine, then a lower height is the way to go. if you have a fabulous space (which i don't) then i guess the height can be the same as a standard sofa seat cushion. it just seems most coffee tables aren't low and cute the way i [think] i prefer them to be (said with uncertainty)
I don't have a coffee table any more, either. Instead, I have several side/end tables to the right and left of the easy chair, love seat, and sofa. I seldom if ever entertain, but on the rare occasion when I have one or two friends over they can put their drinks and so on on the side/end tables.
Where the coffee table would be, I now have room for a large ottoman. I do not use it as a coffee table, but to put my feet on. No problem with a husband moving furniture around, since I live alone, but I am just too stuffy to put my feet on a coffee table. My dear mother, now deceased, would surely have KILLED me if I ever did that when I was younger! lol Still I love to have my feet up, and ottomans are more comfortable for that.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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The standard height for a coffee table is between 16 and 18 inches. I think mine is 18 inches, but that was by choice. What? Choice? Yeah... my issue with my old pine coffee table was that it wasn't deep enough. I like deep couches, deep coffee tables, etc... So, when we were replacing our dining room table, we chopped the legs of the old dining room table and made it a coffee table. My husband was sick about it -- it's antique -- but he's OK with it now. And now I have my ultra-deep coffee table, at standard height. (And, also, we don't feel trashy for eating dinner at it now, while watching TV because, technically, it's a dining room table! Ha!)
So, when we were replacing our dining room table, we chopped the legs of the old dining room table and made it a coffee table. My husband was sick about it -- it's antique -- but he's OK with it now. And now I have my ultra-deep coffee table, at standard height. (And, also, we don't feel trashy for eating dinner at it now, while watching TV because, technically, it's a dining room table! Ha!)
Ha, funny, we recently did the opposite! I have a 42" round cocktail table (this is coffee table height), don't ask me why. At one point in an earlier residence it had a large living room, actually larger than the house I'm living in now I think even though that was an apartment, and I never expected to have a real sofa in that room, etc, so I had chairs around this big table or something. Anyway. After a recent rearranging this table was even more in the way, but we like the table, so I looked at it, figured out how I could take the short legs off (I may have had to put them on in the first place) and bought some cheap table legs at Ikea. Now it's a 42" round dining-height table (although I've kept the other legs in case we ever want to change it back). Still need some more comfortable chairs to use for sitting at it....
As far as coffee table height, higher than typical would certainly be more functional if you wanted to eat there or use it for writing or to set the computer on or whatever. But it would look odd. That's how those lift top tables came about I guess. After the rearranging noted above we bought a really cheap normal rectangular one with shelf for storing some junk (we put baskets under there to hold stuff). I think it cost all of 20 bucks and I don't like it much but won't be sad if we dump it for something else because it was so cheap. It gets the job done for the moment until we find something better.
I bought my coffee table from Ligne Roset in 2000 or 2001 some where in between those years...
Love it low (15" high I believe) since my sofa is also low in my formal living area.
I also have side tables at higher heights to accommodate people who likes higher surface for use of their drinks (drinks only)... or they can use the coffee table too. I love my formal for the quiet talks for visits & formal business discussions without any TV as distractions.
I have another sectional set down another level in the family room... now it has a great ottoman and no coffee table. I have a big tray there for use of drinks & such (drinks & snacks)... ottoman there makes more sense as my family loves putting their foot up when lounging watching TV, and the ottoman is soft on their feet.
My family don't have the habit to use neither sofa as dining areas... we do meals contained in the dining or the kitchen.
For that extra serving area... I use my buffet table in my dining room.
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