Coffee table: height, distance to the sofa and shape
The table is not an independent object: it works together with the sofa, and all its dimensions are calculated from the sofa.
The coffee table is chosen separately from the sofa, and it lives together with it. Hence all the mistakes: a table to which you have to lean, and a table that you cannot pass.
The height is calculated from the sofa seat
The correct height is level with the sofa seat or 5 cm lower. Then you reach for the cup without bending over. For most sofas, this is 40–45 cm; in our models, the seat height is 43 cm, so the reference point is simple.
Higher models of 50–55 cm are more convenient if you sometimes work or eat at the table — but then the sofa becomes a chair, and you have to sit straight.
The distance to the sofa is about 40 cm
This is what allows you to pass and reach at the same time. Less - you have to squeeze; more - you have to get up to the table, and it ceases to be a coffee table.
Form
The round one is safer in the passage area - there is nothing to catch it - and it does not "cut" the space in front of the sofa like a rectangular one. That is why it is often used in small living rooms and in homes with children.
A rectangular one is more space efficient and works better under a long, straight sofa.
Glass, wood and children
Tempered glass shatters into small fragments without sharp edges upon impact - it is significantly safer than ordinary glass. But with small children, wood and chipboard are more practical: they forgive blows from toys, and glass shows every fingerprint.
A set instead of one
Some models are sold in sets of two or three of different sizes, which are inserted one under the other. For a small living room, this is the most flexible solution: you slide it apart when guests come and fold it back.
