And you shouldn’t be afraid to experiment with nontraditional shapes and materials. Or if you have a sofa that’s upholstered all the way to the ground, you don’t want a super-massive coffee table because then everything feels too heavy,” she says. “Sometimes, if you have a super-leggy couch, you don’t want a super-leggy coffee table. Interior designer Nina Gotlieb points out that it’s helpful to consider the proportions and relative mass of each piece in your living room. Choosing a coffee table, like any piece of furniture that takes center stage in a room, can feel like a daunting task, but there are actually a few simple rules for getting it right.
