coffee tables with personality
put your feet up and stay a while
Writing this after a weekend of boozing—one that started with natural wine at Barr Seco, cascaded into horseradish vodka at Traktir, and crescendoed with pale ale at the Grammy’s. It’s been a long time since I sent out a newsletter; I had one all planned out for last Monday about the state of partying in LA, then scrapped it for fear of getting myself in trouble with my big mouth.
In lieu of that, I instead opened my big mouth on TikTok to complain about the state of coffee tables. Namely—why are they so goddamn ugly?1 Turns out, I’m not alone in my plight. Everyone is pissed off about coffee tables.
So if you too are frustrated with the current state of coffee tables—and I know you are—there is help. Keep reading if you want to see some cool tables that are not rustic plywood crap. At the very end, I’ll reveal what I’m actually buying…
New coffee tables
First up, a table by a local LA designer.
Inlaid with tiles, this fabulous piece is by Kelby Lee Singhaus. I found out about his work because someone at a local coffee shop saw my TikTok and told me I needed to check out Kelby’s stuff. They were right—I loved the tables. Kelby does custom pieces and seems open to commissions right now.
Now granted, these should really be arrayed as a small smattering of coffee tables, but I am very into the fabric slump of Calen Knauf Studios’ Wowtables.
For other smaller tables you could clump together into one big ass table, try Knauf’s Trace Table or stanzanumerotre’s ‘Flora’ side table.
If you have this kind of money for a coffee table, you might as well get it custom. But if you’re so busy making said money you don’t have time for a custom, try this Køge coffee table. Sleek but a little weird. Just the way I like it.
Vintage Coffee Tables
Because sometimes older is better!
First up—move over marble and concrete. Tile tables are the future. This one is especially sexy because the tiles are suspended below glass.
I didn’t know who Roger Capron was a week ago; now I am worryingly deep in the lore of this French ceramicist. You can find a ton of cool—though expensive—Capron coffee tables on 1stDibs. But I like this Capron-esque (read: cheaper) table on Chairish.
You might also try this $389 tile table, this 60s tile table that looks like it’s covered in pills, or this purple coffee table. And sorry but—one more great tile table.
Alternately, you can’t go wrong with smoked glass and chrome. One of the best I came across was this Gallotti table, which has a great starting price point. For a different take on an angular design, try this Roche Bobois modular table.
Much like smoked glass and chrome, clear glass and lucite is a classic. But this Rocchi table—with its organic, twisty lucite base—is just a little bit nastier.
…and what I’m actually buying
Drumroll please…after literally months of hunting, I have finally found The One—the coffee table that will unite my living room, bring guests together and hold many a Fernet and coke.
Except it’s not a coffee table. It’s an ottoman.
The Ottoman by Suay is a customizable dream—starting at $285, you can get it made in pretty much any dimension and color (you can even pick your own piping). And it’s a company I’m happy to give my money to: Suay is an LA fixture that’s serious about ethical business practices. Like during the fires, when the city was flooded with donations of unusable, crappy clothes, Suay started a recycling program to keep those textiles out of the landfill. I’ve also heard great things about their community dye baths.
That’s all, folks!
I may earn some money if you make a purchase through one of the links above.
Unfortunately I forgot the number one rule of the app, which is to include as many caveats as you can possibly think of or you will face the comment section from hell. This time around, that meant people assumed—some kindly, some very unkindly—that I had never heard of shopping vintage. If only they had seen this Substack! Oh, and a bunch of other people asked why I was “wet.” Sorry a bitch stays moisturized, jeez.