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Cocktail Tables Overview

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Cocktail tables, also known as coffee tables, have been an essential piece of living room furniture since before Prohibition. Entertaining from the sofa with after dinner drinks has been a popular American tradition for many years. That tradition varies from region to region and from home to home. Dessert and coffee are served from these tables, whose average height ranges from 16 to 18 inches. The height, or lack of it, is what makes these tables perfect for entertaining while seated on the sofa or comfortable chair. Tables are usually from 40 to 45 inches long and 20 to 25 inches wide.

Traditionally, cocktail tables have been rectangular and made of wood with different stains and finishes. However, as decorating trends shift, more and more styles of tables have become available. Cocktail tables come in wood, glass, and metal, with cushions and without, with stone or glass tops, and even leather or cloth upholstered. Depending on the style of the room and the intended uses, tables are available in every conceivable form.

There are also different functions for these tables, which, strangely enough, do not often change the name by which they are called. There are cocktail tables with built in storage, display cases, game boards and storage for their game-playing pieces, and trunks, boxes, baskets and barrels that double as storage cabinets. Upholstered tables can even double as ottomans.

With the surge of popularity in internet shopping, the average buyer has the best chance of finding exactly the right table for their room and their intended purpose. Pictures of thousands of tables are available on the internet and even if buyers prefer to spend their money locally, they can print out the picture, color choices, and even the manufacturer’s information to take to their preferred store.

However, if buying a cocktail table in a store is not what you had in mind, there are also many forms of tables created from everyday objects such as driftwood with a fitted glass top, whisky barrels cut in half and topped with glass inserts. Even the most frugal college student can create a table with stacks of books and a top or the enduring cinder block and planks used to decorate many college apartments.

Next Page: Cocktail Tables are made from a Variety of Materials.

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