Coffee Tables

Coffee tables for living rooms and lounges, from lift-top designs that hide storage inside to nesting sets that pull apart when guests arrive. Finishes run from tempered glass and sintered stone to marble, cement and wood effects.

Coffee table styles we stock

• Lift-top coffee tables — the top rises to roughly 59 cm to 62 cm for eating or laptop work and hides storage underneath. Check the raised load rating as well as the height; several state only 2 kg to 5 kg on the lifted top.
• Nesting sets — two or three tables that tuck together and separate when you need more surface. Read both heights before you buy: see the note below.
• Sintered stone and glass tops — heat- and scratch-resistant surfaces on metal frames.
• LED coffee tables — 2-tier designs with colour-changing RGB lighting.
• Effect finishes — marble, cement and wood-effect tops in round and rectangular shapes.
• Outdoor coffee tables — slatted composite tops on weather-resistant metal frames.

How to choose a coffee table

The only number that decides whether a coffee table works is its height against your sofa seat. Measure floor to the top of the compressed seat cushion — that is your seat line — and aim for a table level with it or up to 5 cm below. Sofa seats across our seating range run 37 cm to 50 cm with a median of 45 cm, so most people want a table 40 cm to 45 cm high. Above the seat line you have to lift your forearm over your own thigh to set a mug down, which is the usual reason a table never quite feels right.

It is worth checking, because the category name is not a specification. Of the 141 individual table tops in this collection, 61 sit at or below a 45 cm seat line and 58 sit above it; 20 products have a tallest top of 50 cm or more, which is side-table territory. Our coffee table size guide measures every one of them and shows the arithmetic.

Then length and clearance. The table works best at around two-thirds the length of the sofa — roughly 96 cm for a 144 cm two-seater — and wants about 41 cm to 46 cm of gap to the sofa, with 45 cm clear around it where the room allows. Round and nesting designs are safer with small children and easier to walk around in tight spaces; a lift-top is the best pick if the living room doubles as a workspace.

A note on nesting sets

A set of two is rarely two coffee tables. The tables nest because they are different sizes, and different sizes here means different heights: across the 50 nesting sets in our table collections the median gap between the tall table and the short one is 6 cm, and 15 sets have a 10 cm gap. Only 6 of the 50 have two tops inside the coffee-table band. That is not a fault — a lower table beside an armchair is genuinely useful — but read both heights in the Dimensions block rather than assuming they match.

Coffee table FAQs

What height should a coffee table be?

Level with the top of your sofa seat cushion or up to 5 cm below it — usually 40 cm to 45 cm for a standard sofa. Measure your own seat rather than assuming, because sofa seats in our range vary by 13 cm from lowest to highest.

Should a coffee table be higher or lower than the sofa seat?

Lower, or level, never higher. A table above the seat line means reaching up and over your thigh every time you put something down.

Does a nesting set give me two coffee tables?

Usually one coffee table and one lower side table. Only 6 of the 50 nesting sets we stock have two tops inside the coffee-table height band — check both figures before ordering.

How long should a coffee table be?

About two-thirds of the sofa's length. Note that the longest fixed-top table in this collection is 115 cm, so for a full three-seater the extendable design is the only one that reaches the two-thirds mark.

Are glass coffee tables safe with children?

Our glass tops are tempered, which is far stronger than standard glass and breaks into blunt pieces rather than shards. A round table with no sharp corners is still the safer choice.

Do lift-top tables hold much?

Enough for laptops, remotes, magazines and cables — but the raised top is rated well below the closed one, sometimes at just 2 kg. Internal capacities and both load figures are listed on each product page.

Also browse side tables, ottomans & footstools and TV units & stands.