Console Tables - Perfect For the Living Room

No room in your house should be just thrown together. Each room should have a plan, and rhyme and reason before it comes to life. This is especially true for the living room. This is a room in the home where you will be doing a lot of entertaining, and spending a lot of family time. You want to make sure it is a space that is inviting for all kinds of activities and can handle what is asked of it.

When first creating your living room design, you need to map out the space on paper. Make sure to mark where there are doorways coming into the room, or where there are stairwells, fireplaces, windows and other things that may get in the way of some furniture pieces. Measure the open spaces between all of these obstructions, and then you can begin your search for the best pieces of furniture.

The obvious pieces of furniture you are going to likely get for the living room are a sofa, possibly a loveseat and other chairs and seating options for your guests. Then you will likely get a coffee table, and many people also want matching end tables. But this is where you may want to put on the brakes. While end tables are nice, if you are going to do a lot of entertaining in this room, you should probably think of furniture pieces that will help you do that. Sure, end tables will give you a place to put a drink or two, but console tables can offer a lot more. In addition to adding countertop space, console tables can also offer a lot of storage space to put things you will need to have close at hand when you are entertaining, such as coasters for those drinks that are about to be set down.

Another benefit of console tables is when you have your friends with kids visiting. The drawers in the console tables offer a good place to have a few games and toys tucked away so the little ones try to play with those items, instead of any of the valuables you may have on display in the room. Some console tables even have tops that are already game boards, of games like checkers, chess or backgammon, so the kids can pull the playing pieces out of the drawer and the game can immediately get underway.

Perhaps one of the best reasons to have console tables in your living room is to clean up quick for unexpected company. Imagine you get five minutes warning that someone is coming over. You want the place to look nice, but this is the family living room and there are books, magazines, remotes and other small items all over the place. These items can be quickly tucked away in the console tables, hidden from the view of your guests, who will think you keep a spotless home, and later brought back out for everyone to use.