Two Coffee Tables, One Room
I own five coffee tables. Not in one room, to be clear, I’m not running a furniture showroom out of a one bedroom in Somerville, but five, spread across a…
Ottoman Plus Coffee Table: One Too Many?
I was on my knees in the living room with a tape measure and a granola bar my daughter had abandoned halfway through, trying to figure out why every time…
Reclining Sofa Meets Coffee Table
My brother Danny stopped in the doorway of my living room in March, looked at the eighteen inches between my coffee table and my sofa, and said, “Priya, is this…
Ottoman Coffee Table: A Soft Surface Needs a Tray
I was reaching over to set my coffee down on the ottoman in my living room last Tuesday, mid text, not even looking, the way you do with an actual…
Outdoor Coffee Table: Built for Weather First
My mom walked into my backyard in July, looked at the new coffee table, and said, “Chloe, that thing looks like it’s already been through a hurricane.” I told her…
Coffee Tables for a Leather Sofa
I reach for my coffee table roughly fourteen times a day. I know that number because I counted for a week last spring, out of boredom, while I was supposed…
Which Color Coffee Table Should You Get?
I own three coffee tables right now, spread across a two bedroom apartment in Boston that does not have three living rooms to put them in. One is doing its…
Coffee Tables for a Room Full of Black Furniture
My friend Marguerite walked into my living room in October, looked at the black leather sofa, the black bookshelf, the black metal lamp I’d been very pleased with myself for…
Coffee Table Styling Rules of Thumb
I counted last week, out of morbid curiosity, because I’d just rearranged my coffee table for the third time in four days and needed to know if that was a…
Protecting a Coffee Table Without Hiding It
My sister walked into the living room, looked at the ring already sitting on the coffee table from somebody’s iced tea, looked at me, and said, “You wrote a whole…