You’d be surprised how truly gargantuan most coffee tables are – unless, of course, you’ve ever tried to furnish a small living room. Online, scale is hard to grasp, but pull out a measuring tape and suddenly that ‘compact’ option feels anything but.
Living in an NYC studio myself, I know this viscerally. In six years of trial and error in what is, essentially, a glorified dorm room, I’ve landed on one key rule: the best small coffee tables for small living rooms fall between 36 inches long (my current setup) and, at most, around 40 inches – if you’re lucky enough to have a bit more breathing room.
From there, extra living room storage is essential. In a small living room, clutter is less easily forgiven, so the best small coffee tables pull double duty with hidden compartments – an art and science still rarer than it should be, but increasingly well-executed by CB2 in luxe fluted oak finishes, and even by entry-level, all-style retailers like Wayfair.
It’s a tall order, but considering the coffee table is the hub of the living room, it’s worth getting right. You might have fallen for that 60-inch burl-wood behemoth, but with any luck, you’ll love these 16 small coffee tables more.
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