You don’t need a home decorator to tell you that one coffee table is the norm in a living room. If the rest of your room looks disproportionately larger than your coffee table, you may be considering a change. So, is it possible to have two or more coffee tables in your living room?
It’s possible to have two or more coffee tables in your living room if it doesn’t impact the design negatively. There are also many advantages to having two coffee tables. By settling for cheaper alternatives to coffee tables, you’ll get the benefits while spending considerably less.
In this article, you’ll learn why having more than one coffee table in your living room is probably a good idea. You’ll also learn some alternative ways to style your living room without making it feel empty.
Is It Weird to Have Two Coffee Tables?
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When you first had the idea to have multiple coffee tables in a room, you probably thought it sounded odd. However, from experience, you already know not all weird-sounding things are absurd. Is it practically unusual to have two coffee tables?
The answer depends on the creativity of whoever will be decorating the room. A simple search on Google or Pinterest will show you gorgeous pictures of houses with two or more coffee tables. People pair up to four coffee tables in their living space while still retaining a sane and often alluring look.
You must think out of the box to make your room look its best. While you may be inspired to copy a home design from Pinterest, it may look just bad in practice. Unless your home has the same general design, you should probably go for a unique design.
There are many exciting ways to pair two or more coffee tables in your living room. Interestingly, the table doesn’t have to be the same size or color –as long as they match the natural look of your home.
Why You Should Consider Having Two Coffee Tables in Your Living Room
While most homes tend to stick with one coffee table, the internet is enough proof that two is usually better. There are many reasons why you may want to consider having more than one coffee table in your living room.
The first and probably the primary justification for having multiple coffee tables is a large room. If a single coffee table looks tiny compared to the rest of your room, you may have to add another. While this practice isn’t exactly mainstream yet, an increasing number of people are adopting it.
Buying nesting tables is another reason why most people have multiple coffee tables. Nesting tables refer to a set of tables designed to complement themselves. They usually come in matching colors but at different heights.
If you bought nesting coffee tables, your only option is to have two coffee tables. In most cases, you won’t have a chance to separate them since they’re joint. If you’re looking to get two coffee tables, buying a set of nesting tables will do half the work for you.
Two or more coffee tables will also offer you more real estate for whatever you use your coffee table for. If you place many decorative objects on your coffee table, you should consider getting another to avoid knocking things over. You may even consider a nested coffee table with a drawer for maximum storage space.
A bigger coffee table simply makes everything more manageable. Working with ample space will make things much easier if you’re not very good at home management. It doesn’t matter how big your room looks, with a single coffee table.
Best Alternatives to a Second Coffee Table
Coffee tables can be pretty expensive. If you’re looking to get an additional coffee table, the costs can accumulate quickly. Instead of using two expensive coffee tables in your living room, you can use alternatives, depending on your use case.
The alternative you’ll go for depends on why you’re adding the second table. A second table will be the best idea if it’s purely for aesthetic reasons. Otherwise, you can use some of these excellent alternatives to a coffee table for your living room.
1. Trunk
If all you need from the second coffee table is storage space, a trunk will probably serve you better. Depending on what type of trunk you get, they might fit into your home’s aesthetic or look out of place. Since they coexist well with coffee tables, a living room trunk might be the perfect replacement for another coffee table.
Trunks are built to be sturdy and solid, and they usually make a bold statement. If you’re looking for a coffee table alternative that’s mobile, you can already tell a trunk isn’t for you.
Also, depending on the kind of trunk you purchase, you may not be able to place your coffee on it. No thanks to the rounded design of a trunk’s lid, you may have a hard time balancing your drinks. However, if all you want is extra space for everything else, a trunk will work, as long as it doesn’t look weird.
2. Tray Table
If you have many decorative objects on your coffee table, a tray table is the perfect second table for you. Unlike trunks, tray tables usually have a flat surface with a rim to hold your items in place. This quality makes tray tables useful for more than just carrying flowers.
If you get a tray table with an adjustable stand, it can carry your laptop while you watch a movie. Unlike rims, they’re also very mobile, making them closer to coffee tables than a rim could ever be.
Despite the numerous advantages of tray tables, they’re not very good if you need extra storage space. They can only carry a few items at most, making them only optimal for carrying ornamental plants.
3. Garden Stool
If all you want is mobility, a garden stool will work better than a coffee table. Garden stools are way smaller than all other alternatives on this list and consequently more mobile. They also have a surface flat enough to hold anything you throw at them.
Even though the small size of garden stools makes them more mobile, it also comes with disadvantages. They’re easier to knock over than most other coffee table alternatives. While this might not sound like a big deal, it will if you manage to knock it over with a drink.
Should You Have Two Coffee Tables in Your Living Room?
If the reasons are purely aesthetic, it’s always justifiable to have two coffee tables in the same room. For other reasons, however, some alternatives are better than having more than one coffee table.
Some reasons why you may want to rethink having two coffee tables include aesthetics and cost-effectiveness. In most cases, two coffee tables will simply look out of place unless you’re a master home decorator.
Also, coffee tables can be pretty expensive. Thankfully, there are much cheaper alternatives that serve almost the same purpose as your home’s coffee table. For example, you can use trunks for extra storage space, and tray tables are cheaper alternatives to coffee tables.
