Updated Coffee Tables for Today’s TV Rooms

Are coffee tables out of style? With all the talk of downsizing, decluttering, and minimizing, the trend seems clear.

But coffee tables are not out of style. An update might be in order, however, to be fully in style.

After decades of entertaining over our enormous coffee table, it was time for us to get on trend.

At our ages, we don’t entertain like we used to. And our old coffee table had become an old clutter trap.

We decided to ditch the coffee table.

At first we loved having plenty of space without the big, bulky coffee table in the way.

The room flowed gracefully from the front entrance through to the kitchen. And our Deebot Robot Vacuum sailed effortlessly through the room with one less piece of furniture in the way.

And now two of us could practice our Lee Holden Qi Gong at the same time without bumping into each other.

We wondered aloud why hadn’t gotten rid of our coffee table sooner.

But Where Do You Put Your Coffee?

Or your smoothie, water bottle, and snacks?

Once we sat down to watch TV together, we began to rethink our grand minimizing plan.

With one of us on the love seat and one of us on the couch, we set down our smoothies and pile of chips on the end table between us. We settled in for a movie.

Things didn’t seem quite right, though.

We knocked hands going for our drinks several times and nearly knocked the chips to the floor at least once.

Over the next few days, I noticed a magazine, a set of keys, and a half-read book laying open on the couch. Our couch had replaced the coffee table as the clutter trap.

Maybe we just aren’t as trendy as we’d like to think.

Why Do You Need a Coffee Table?

We soon realized what our old coffee table lacked was a purpose.

We no longer needed a coffee table large enough to entertain several other couples. But we did need something to hold our movie night snacks, a few current magazines, and maybe a book or two. Of course the coffee table is the most convenient place for the TV remotes, too.

So while we decided that we do need a coffee table after all, we also agreed any new coffee table would have to earn its keep. Like every other piece of furniture, it should have a good reason for taking up valuable space.

Finding the Right Coffee Table

We decided any new coffee table would have to meet some requirements:

• A new coffee table can’t take up too much room.
  • Our old coffee table was enormous. A new coffee table should be just big enough to hold our drinks, snacks and a magazine or two.

• A new coffee table must contain some storage space.
  • We need storage space to hide away the clutter, even if just for remotes and magazines. When no one was using our old coffee table, it had no purpose other than taking up space.

• A new coffee table will have a shelf underneath.
  • If it’s going to take up floor space, that floor space should not be wasted.

• A new coffee table can’t be too expensive.
  • If we are following trends, we’d better follow as inexpensively as possible.

 

VIDEO: Bay View Coffee Table

A Coffee Table for Us

It took some searching, but we finally found a lovely coffee table that met our requirements.

The Casual Home Bay View Coffee Table in the Warm Brown color has everything we want in a compact size. The Warm Brown color has lighter and darker hues of browns in it, so it blends with other pieces in our TV room.

Not only does the Bay View Coffee Table have a shelf underneath for storage, it also has two decent-sized drawers. Remotes, DVDs, or a random video game can be quickly whisked away into the drawers at any time.

Dimensions of the Casual Home Bay View Coffee Table

Length: 48″

  Width: 20″ 

Height: 18″

Drawer interior: 17″ x 12″

 

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View the Casual Home Bay View Coffee Table on Amazon

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The wide open shelf underneath is perfect for stacking magazines, or we can add a few baskets to organize it even further.

In addition to Warm Brown, the Bay View Coffee Tables also come in Black. Luckily, the Bay View Coffee Table did not break the budget, either.

The Bay View coffee table was fairly easy to put together. The coffee table’s drawers come already attached and assembled to the table top. So it was just a matter of attaching the side panels and the bottom shelf.

We use a battery power screwdriver whenever possible to help out with our aging hands. In this case, it came in handy to attach the drawer handles.

We completed the rest of the coffee table assembly with the included Allen wrench.

Finally, we attached furniture sliders to easily move it out of the way when we want to use the floor space for other activities.

Closing Thoughts

We thought coffee tables were out of style. We happily followed the trend. But it turns out that, for us, the coffee table will likely never be out of style.

Sometimes you follow a trend and find something even better. We discovered an updated coffee table that adds comfort and functionality, and now storage space as well.

Have you thought about ditching your old coffee table?