The coffee table is one of your most important living room features. While it’s likely not as large, expensive and prominent as the sofa, or even some of the chairs, its central location gives it a unique influence. It’s one of the first things people notice when they walk into the room!

Most folks pick out the sofa and chairs first then add the coffee table and side tables. However, there’s no reason you can’t work the other way around: start with a distinctive coffee table and build the room around it! It works because a coffee table doesn’t have to be a piece that conforms to what’s already present, although that’s a perfectly valid way to decorate. But consider this: a coffee table can also be a design leader that sets the tone for a room! Accent tables may also put forth an artistic statement that takes the space in a new direction.

Design trends are always evolving, and that’s as true for accent tables as for any other furniture. Here are some coffee table and end table trends that are making decorative news in today’s homes.

Distinctive Shapes

The classic rectangular table still has its place, but even formal living rooms now allow for variation. The subtlest change is a simple rounding of the corners while retaining the basic rectangle. From there you can go to an oval or a round table. The oval table can sit, as it traditionally has, in front of the sofa. You can also try grouping a few circular tables, such as a nesting table set, together in the place of a large rectangular coffee table.

Round coffee tables go particularly well with contemporary design schemes! For example, variations on a kidney shape attract attention and please the eye with their unexpected curvature. However, circles aren’t the only shapes taking over living room design. Perhaps the latest shape trend in accent tables is geometrics. Geo decor is slipping into our homes in such forms as hexagonal mirror frames and multifaceted pendants. A polygon accent table is a logical next step. We’re even seeing triangular tables, albeit with one or more corners or edges rounded.

Geo isn’t limited to the tabletop! A round tabletop supported by a skeleton of angled metal legs is a striking centerpiece for a room, and it aligns beautifully with modernist trends.

Inspired Materials

The traditional coffee table is wooden, perhaps with a glass top. A more contemporary choice, such as those at home in industrial style homes, has been metal. This year, however, we’ll be experimenting not only with new materials but also with a mixing of those we already have.

The wood and metal coffee table is the blending you’ll be seeing a lot of! A wooden tabletop might be supported by a regular four-legged design or a metal pedestal base. There could be crossbars. Sometimes the base generates as much visual interest as the tabletop.

Another choice is the stone top, supported by either wood or metal. A durable variation is sintered stone, which is made from natural stone and formed into amazingly hard slabs. Sintering produces the ultimate in family friendliness: waterproof, scratch resistant and easy to clean.

Other trending materials are marble and polished burl. You might even spot an all-glass table in the shaped of an inverted U!

Creative Colors

Light wood coffee tables are leading the parade in this year’s living rooms! The light colors and creamy tones match up with a trend in new construction where earthy hues are replacing white on the baseboard and other trim. Gray has been a popular table color for a few years now, and we’re likely to see that tendency continuing.

The big news in current accent tables is two-tone! A popular interpretation is the light wood tabletop with dark wood legs. Whether the legs are thin, stylized or extra hefty, the color combo brings a creative brightness to the entire living space. The tabletop color might be anything from a rich, creamy beige to a subtle tinge that’s nearly white. The inverse, with dark tabletops and light legs, is interesting as well.

Nesting and Clustering

Nesting table sets consists of two or three tables that fit one under the other. They’re ideal for small spaces or to quickly provide some extra surface space when you have a few guests. The legs are often metallic but the tops may be wood, metal or glass.

Clustering tables are identical pairs that you can string end to end to make one long table. You can also separate them or arrange them in an L: whatever configuration the occasion demands! There are also polygon clustering tables in sets of three that offer multiple geometric possibilities.

Transform Your Room with Accent Tables

If you’re designing a living room from scratch, be sure to rank your selection of accent tables right up there with the choice of sofa and chairs. If you already have a room, one of the most cost-effective ways to make it fresh and new is with a different coffee table! Visualize what your space will look like with a curved table, a two-toned table or an artistic table of mixed metal and wood. If you change or add end tables at the same time, the transformation can be even more dazzling!