Coffee tables often seem to be living room furniture pieces that go unnoticed, but the reality is quite the opposite. The coffee table becomes the meeting point in every living room, family room or dining room in every home.
The coffee table is an indispensable piece of furniture that will never be missing from a home, and they come in all shapes and sizes.
As a curiosity to reiterate the importance of coffee tables is the fact that it is one of the first pieces of furniture that were created. Its origins date back to the cave era, as it arose from the need for humans to hold objects at a comfortable height for use.
It is curious that throughout history coffee tables have changed materials, from stone to steel, marble and wood.
Most coffee tables are made today of wood (although imitation wood tables are becoming increasingly common) or glass and metal, usually stainless steel or aluminum, and can incorporate cabinets or drawers, which complement your storage spaces in living room furniture.
It is believed that coffee tables as we know them today were first built in Renaissance England.
Origins
Japanese style coffee table
In Europe, the first tables specifically designed, called coffee tables, appear to have been manufactured in Great Britain at the end of the Victorian era.
According to the list in Victorian Furniture by RW Symonds & BB Whineray and also from The Country Life Book of English Furniture by Edward T. Joy, a table designed by EW Godwin in 1868 and mass-produced by William Watt and Collinson and Lock is likely to be one of the first coffee tables manufactured in Europe.
Far from being a low table, this table was approximately twenty-seven centimeters high.
