devo digest » coffee tables

Making a Rustic Coffee Table

Stevie Wonder — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 02:09:08 +0000

Many people enjoy the look and feel of antique furniture. It is a great country looking style that can make your home feel quite cozy. Antique furniture however can be very expensive at times and hard to find the perfect piece to match your décor and style. Many companies make authentic looking replicas of old style furniture and even design them to have a well worn and antique look to them. If you want to make a retro looking piece of furniture yourself you can also do so with special types of paint and finishes. Making a rustic coffee table is not too hard and will look great in your living room when you are finished. Here are a few suggestions on how to do it.

When building a coffee table meant to look rustic and antique you need to choose materials that will lend itself to this appearance. If you can find an old piece of wood with a well worn look that would be perfect. Of course you can always try to get a newer piece and make it look older through various sanding and finishing techniques. It is best to try and get a more natural looking piece though perhaps actually cut by someone you know because a piece bought from a lumber yard is not going to have that look. The shape of the table is really up to your own decision. The most used shape especially for older tables would be a square or rectangle but you could create a circular or oval coffee table if you choose.

After you have pieced together the table you will have to decide how you want it finished. There are a few different options for making a table look old. You could lightly stain it leaving a distressed look with the table surface not quite perfectly smooth. This would give it a more natural feel. If you would like to paint it you can purchase unique paints in which you put down one coat and then a different color on top which then by design leaves a slightly peeled and worn look showing bits of both colors.

Selecting White Coffee Tables

Stevie Wonder — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:56:03 +0000

When it comes to coffee tables, there are so many style choices available that it can make selecting the right one for your room very difficult. A coffee table, being the centerpiece of a room, is a very important piece of furniture. It will add the finishing touches to your room, like the right hat can finish off the perfect outfit.

White is such a versatile color, that it can match almost any room’s decor. Dressed in white, a coffee table has the audacity to blend in with most contemporary styling, or the latest modern look. A white table will be available in a variety of styles, although it may not be as common as a typical stained wood design. White painted or stained wood, metal, with or without glass tops, are all common coffee table choices. White Formica laminate over a MDF fiberboard will likely be your most common, and inexpensive design choice, though. The white coloring also works really nicely when the table is a two tone design. A white wood finished table top, with plain wood stained legs (or vice versa), are both excellent choices. These styles should go well with almost any room.

Your local outlets will likely have a limited supply of white coffee tables on hand, if any at all. The Internet will be your best place to shop, research and compare. Being unable to see the table choices in person can be a drawback, as coffee tables have vast size ranges. It’s important to choose the right sized table for your living space, as it needs to effortlessly blend in with the size of the room from a style point of view, as well as ergonomically. For example, of your table is too big, your guests may trip and stumble over seated people’s feet, in an attempt to navigate around it.

If shopping online, carefully note the dimensions of the table. If there are any doubts, I would suggest “recreating“ the table in your chosen room. Do this using masking tape on the floor perhaps, or try arranging some boxes. You will likely have to pay a premium for shipping, so it important to buy the right table the first time.

For more information, please see this article on white coffee tables, and be sure to also check out how a black glass coffee table can also be a perfect centerpiece for your room.

Coffee Tables Can Serve Many Functions

Stevie Wonder — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 17:59:03 +0000

We all have multiple pieces of furniture that serve their own purpose in the home. On popular furniture item that serves multiple purposes is the pine coffee table and, although most people think coffee tables are meant to be placed in the living room in front of the main sofa, there really are no set rules about how to use them or where to place them. Here are some ways you can use one of these tables in your home:

You can place coffee tables at various locations around the house and place ornaments, pictures or plants on them for an added touch to the decor of your home.
The tables can be used to place a stereo system, dvd player or laptop computer on.
A white coffee table is good to have in the living room if you want to multi-task in front of the television.
In the bedroom, it can be used in place of or in addition to an end table to store anything you like to have close to your bed throughout the night.
These tables are also good to have outside in the yard or on your deck for placing food items or drinks on while you and your guests enjoy the fresh air.

These tables come in so many varieties that it is impossible for me to list them all here. I can say that you will have no problem finding one that you like and one that will perform the functions you need it to. Brown is probably the most popular color but they come in every color you can imagine. They are typically made of wood although you can purchase some that are made or plastic or metal materials or that have a combination of materials. Some tables have legs that fold for easy storage and you can also buy sets that include a coffee table and other related items.

They can be purchased at most department stores, furniture stores and anywhere where outdoor and indoor furniture is sold. The price for one these tables will vary greatly depending on where you buy, what brand you buy, what material it is made of and how big it is. You can get a coffee table for under one hundred dollars but they can also go as high as a thousand dollars. Another option is to check thrift stores and antique stores for even cheaper items that will also be unique and different from what anyone else has in their home!

Choosing Console Tables

Ric — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:40:08 +0000

Look at your house carefully before buying a piece of furniture such as a console table. If the kitchen cabinet’s and the entrance banister and the edging and cornices are all dark wood, carry that through with the furniture in cherry wood or oak or pine depending on the wood in the home. On the other hand if the home is a sleek modern white with chrome and light colors and stainless steel appliances, then add to that with contemporary furniture. Place a transparent hall console table at the entrance and compliment it with an art deco mirror. Use a modern console table as a bar table or buffet in the dinning room and refrain from anything that is cherry or oak.

Start Fresh

Unfortunately, for most of us, we acquire furniture in bits and pieces and end up with a variety of styles over time. However, if you are remodeling your home or moving into a new one, consider having a yard sale or garage sale and selling all the pieces that don’t go with your new style. It’s better to have less that all goes together then to have a pile of furniture that makes your new space look cluttered. Start fresh. Pick a style and stick to it for a while.

Small Console Table

For a small console table there’s the Robie Mission Console Table that’s great in any small space or hallway or entrance or living room and only costs about $370. It’s solid wood and has two drawers and has the classic mission style wooden slats along the sides down to the floor with an open front.

Cheap Console Tables

There’s a nice little cheap item without drawers from Home Decorators that is cherry hardwood and nicely finished for just under $150. This cherry table is from the Cooper Classic Viejo Mission series in oak, for under $450. Or you may like the classic mission design from Amazon Marketplace also cherry hardwood for just under $150. And for a really cheap console table there’s the Target Mission line by Furio Home sold for about $90, and has a simple natural wood finish. For an oak wood model that’s stylish there’s the Picotee Mission Console Table, also from Target, for just $130.

Some of these models may double as an oak sofa table or hall entrance table or even a buffet. The cherry console table designs and the oak models may be used for audiovisual equipment or simply decorative purposes. However, all wood console table designs suggested in this article can be ordered online.

Glass and Chrome Tables

Some of the modern console tables are made of glass and chrome and can work well as bar furniture because they tend to be tall tables. One may even double as a cocktail table with a stool or two. They may also work as a buffet in conjunction with a glass dining table and chrome chairs in a retro modern decorated home.

Versatile Console

Console tables do not have a defined style or purpose like coffee tables or a kitchen table and therefore are versatile in any room of the house and can virtually be anything you desire them to be. The only real characteristics that defines a console table is that it tends to be tall and narrow, making it good to press against a wall in limited space or at the back of a sofa that is not against a wall. These pieces do not work well as end tables because they are usually too high to set a drink on comfortably or to reach from a low seating position.

End tables traditionally are lower than the arm height of a sofa and the glass coffee table will be even lower. So console tables do have their limitations in that they will not replace a coffee table or an end table but must be beside or near higher furniture items like a kitchen table. The demilune, or half moon console is best if placed in a room with other round table designs and not mixed with square or rectangular shaped tables.