Do you love a good piece of wood? Yeah, so do we.
If your living room is anything like ours, the coffee table probably plays a pretty big role in your life. Whether it’s seen coffee spills, food spills or just dirty pairs of feet at the end of each day, it’s done the job of every good table and borne the brunt of a life well lived.
So, let’s talk coffee tables — especially wood coffee tables. Because whether you’re sitting down with your croissant and shot of espresso or just a good old ham sandwich, everything feels like home on a wooden table.
What is it about a wooden coffee table?
To help us explore the world of wood and the world of design that comes with it, we caught up with Bella Vie Interiors principal interior designer Lisa Alward to find out why everyone seems to love wooden tables.
“Timber and wood look good in any room and match with any style,” says Lisa. “Adding furniture made from blonde timber — like beach, plywood or oak — innately brings warmth to a room.
“If you’ve got lots of white or cool tones, a timber coffee table can warm things up without veering too far away from the design principles of that particular style.”
So if you’re looking to add warmth to a room and give it that earthy feel, opt for wooden accents and timber furnishings. Too easy!
An engineered vs solid wood coffee table
A solid wood coffee table is strong and built to last lifetimes. While we’d all love to have solid wood furnishings in our homes, they’re often expensive and hard to maintain, requiring sanding and stain-proofing to keep them looking fresh.
Engineered wood, on the other hand — made up of multiple layers of plywood — is a more modern and affordable alternative to solid wood, packing in the same level of quality and style without costing you an arm and a sunburnt leg.
Our Koala wood coffee tables have the best of both worlds. With their solid white oak legs and brackets, as well as their stain-resistant oak and ash veneer finishes, they’re strong and good-looking. Our coffee tables are also stain resistant, which means you can get messy and not stress out over everyday spills. Plus, the coffee table surfaces are finished in a lacquer that can handle more grime than your fave true crime series.
Tips on buying a wood coffee table
Alright, let’s get down to business. Here are three top tips on choosing a wooden coffee table:
🪵 Play with colour, but keep it in the family. Avoid the matchy-matchy look if you’re going for a relaxed feel, but if you do want to get creative, stick to woods that belong in the same family. This will allow you to play with shades and textures while maintaining a cohesive look.
🪵 Match the table to the room. Large room? You’ll need a large table. Small room? A smaller table will do. And if you really want to get the most out of a tight space, a round coffee table will do the trick by making the room look and feel more spacious.
🪵Keep the ratios right. When it comes to sizing, if you have a small table in a large room, try layering a couple of small- or medium-sized tables together to help fill the space. Good ratios create good balance.
Styling your coffee table
When it comes to styling a coffee table, ratio and visual balance are key. Oh, and don’t forget the coasters.
For a square coffee table, Lisa recommends a rectangular tray. “Not only does it provide a great focal point, but it also gives you somewhere to place all the little objects and untidy bits and pieces like remotes. It keeps everything together.” She then suggests adding things like books, a plant or decorative objects to create a bit of interest.
If you’ve got a round coffee table, a rectangular tray can look a little odd. Instead, Lisa suggests dividing the table into three and decorating each section. “Start with a focal point, like a nice plant or decorative statue — something with a bit of height; you could add a stack of books or small boxes. You want to create a nice balance of shapes and sizes.”
Introducing the Koala coffee tables
Now that you know what to look for, we wouldn’t be surprised if you fell in love with our wooden coffee tables and timber side table.
Whether you go for our OG Round Coaster Coffee Table or our Rectangular Coaster Coffee Table, or upgrade to the sleek and sophisticated Kirribilli Coffee Table; you’ll score a nifty little storage shelf. It’s a great place to hide the remote and chocolate if anyone comes looking.
And if you’re passionate about sustainability, shut the front door — because we know a thing or two about that. We’re pretty proud of all the environmental certifications we’ve been awarded.
What kind of certifications? Well, for a start, we’ve got the GECA tick of approval. This means the materials used to make Koala’s stunning range have met the highest social and environmental standards. We’re also all for protecting forests, so a number of our products are produced with FSC® certified wood. Plus all our mattresses are CertiPUR-US® certified. Trust us, that’s a big deal.
Style your home with Koala
Now that you’ve got your coffee table picked out, you’ll definitely need to check out our full range of Koala furniture, mattresses, bed frames, bed linen and homewares to well and truly get your Koala on. With fuss-free delivery and our 120-night free trial on all products, there’s no point waiting.
