The Quiet Power of Coffee & Side Tables

“The smallest gestures frequently reveal the deepest structures of social life,” noted social theorist Pierre Bourdieu, who warned us against the assumption of the naturalness of the ordinary. Nothing captures this notion more anonymously—and yet more cogently—than the coffee table, as well as its ubiquitous companion the side table; low-slung, low-profile, commonly taken for granted, these tables sit at the crossroads of body, space, and habit. 

As we know them today, the first coffee tables started to appear at the turn of the 20th century, primarily in Europe and the United States. Their birth is inextricably linked with the rise of modern domesticity and the social ritual of drinking coffee, which moved from cafés and public salons into private spaces. During this time, as living rooms became spaces to accommodate gatherings in an informal manner rather than serving strictly for formal reception, furniture likewise began to adjust. This gesture-appoggiare, to rest, to lean, to deposit-carries both a physical and symbolic meaning. We place objects as extensions of ourselves: a cup that warms our hands, a book that holds our attention, a phone that connects us outward. The table becomes a mediator between the body and the environment, absorbing the weight of everyday life.

They are an essential need in these fluid interiors of today. When home spaces increasingly blur between living, working, and gathering, the coffee and side tables offer points of support that are flexible. They adapt without imposing, anchoring space through presence rather than dominance.

It is within this context that the SOPHIE.STOOL by LOES.BETA.GMBH finds its meaning. Conceived as a hybrid object, it operates simultaneously as a stool and a side table, responding to the need for versatility in contemporary living spaces. Rather than prescribing a single function, SOPHIE.STOOL invites use—an object to sit on, to rest against, to place something upon.

Constructed from 5 mm thick natural aluminium material, SOPHIE.STOOL celebrates material honesty. Its surface is unfinished and untouched, proudly displaying the unfinished quality of the metal itself. Any scratch or marking is not hidden but cherished; the aluminium material will be able to develop its own patina over time. Through the process of aging, each product becomes distinct and special in its own way.

If SOPHIE.STOOL explores material honesty through gesture and patina, the Rivet Box Table by FRAMA introduces a more architectural interpretation of the side table. Robust and deliberately restrained, it is conceived as a modular object whose identity shifts according to orientation and use.

The Rivet Box Table, on one hand, has an alternate use vertically and horizontally, serving functions like a table, storage unit, pedestal display, and/or all of the above. The multifunctional nature of Rivet Box Table mirrors human aspirations of living with and making use of functional furniture pieces that do not dictate functionality.

At the heart of the process, a precise yet evocative creation process has been developed. "The creation of the piece itself entails a type of riveting that the designer, Jonas Trampedach, developed in 2011, enabling a joint between two separate raw aluminum sheets, each laser-cut, to be created in a right angle format. By use of a cold formation process, which occurs by hand with a hammer, evidence of its creation remains, as the rivets are in evidence, yet in a very deliberate way function as a form of necessary joint, as well as a creative expression in themselves.

Where the Rivet Box Table articulates structure and assembly, the NOVAK side table by OBJEKTE UNSERER TAGE shifts the focus toward connection, memory, and tactile experience. Conceived as a metaphor for valuable relationships, NOVAK is defined by the moment in which its elements come together—once joined, they appear almost inseparable.

Made of gleaming stainless steel, the table is constructed by precise laser-cut tenon joints that break up the surface on purpose. Disruptions like these are not flaws but rather the table's character. Harmony comes through contrast: asymmetry and symmetry, matte and shine, precision and softness all balance in a sensitive counterpoint.

Moving from the intimate scale of the side table to the shared surface of the living space, the Space Coffee Table by HKLIVING embodies a quieter, more atmospheric approach. Minimalist and modern, it operates through reduction—clean lines, softened geometries, and a deliberate absence of excess.

Its low profile brings the table closer to the floor, reinforcing a sense of grounding and informality. Rounded edges soften the geometry, creating a visual and tactile balance that feels both calm and inviting. Finished in smooth white, the surface reflects light gently, contributing to an atmosphere of openness and restraint.

Again, paying tribute to a more radical concept of material presence, The Side Table, by LESORR, fashioned from raw, brushed aluminum, is a design that reduces the Brutal aesthetic to a small, functional form highly reminiscent of the concept that was its reference point, The Bookshelf.

It flourishes in its reduced form as practical functionality with an unadorned yet minimalist language to go along with it; no ornamentation whatsoever – simply proper structure to be found here. The aluminum surface adds to the physicality of materials such as density and texture, originating from an industrial process as well as allowing for variations in lighting.

The Side Table follows the philosophy of the entire Les Objets Raymond Raymond team; in fact, it represents the entire philosophy of the design firm led by David Raymond since the beginning of 2023. While the firm’s range spans from collectibles to product design, the entire range of objects created so far under the LESORR umbrella embodies the designer’s philosophy of valuing raw materials in association with physical and graphical forms of design.

Emphasizing balance and permanence, the coffee table duo from KØGE’s X-Collection presents a restrained yet confident interpretation of the contemporary coffee table. Made entirely of stainless steel, the pair combines durability with a minimalist elegance rooted in clarity of form and material consistency.

Characterized by clear lines and solid presence in the environment, the current range of tables integrates easily in modern spaces without superfluity in terms of form. This is because the design of the furniture hinges on functionality; hence, the properties of stainless steel are the focal point.

If we shift away from the functional, more practical elements, a more introspective, expressive quality emerges in the work of Saturday Yard Work, as they pose the coffee table as a work of exploration. It is the work of Nathan Martin, a practice operating out of Adelaide/Kaurna in Australia, operating as a fusion of sculpture, craft, and functional work.

Material experimentation lies at the very core of Saturday Yard Work’s oeuvre. By unorthodox production, the aluminum surface takes on a life of its own, a ‘field’ of variation in vision, tactility, and disruption, punctuated by ‘irregularities’ that invoke ‘making,’ ‘time,’ and ‘touch.’ Material process, in a way, gives way to ‘form’ in unplanned ways.

SHIRO by Modan emerges from an ongoing folding series as a precise meditation on material and gesture. As the fourth piece in the collection, it continues a dialogue rooted in reduction, where form is generated directly from process.

Cut and shaped from a single sheet of metal, SHIRO reveals strength through simplicity. There are no fasteners or mechanical elements—only a sequence of folds that define structure, silhouette, and balance. Function and sculptural expression meet in an object that feels both resolved and open, present yet restrained.

Studio Kaytar’s "Bark Side Table" is sited in the interstitial space between object and votive object; informed by the site of memory and materiality of translation. Conceptualized as a textured tribute, the table was derived from the furrowed bark of an ironbark tree walked upon during a bushwalk not far from home. Ironbarks retain the skin of the tree; it builds up over time.

“These grooves, each a history of resilience, are captured and interpreted through a sand casting solid aluminum technique. The end product inherits the organic roughness in scale with the bark’s depth: a natural imprint in an industrial material. Weighing in at 18 kg, the table has presence – not through a smooth finish but through its mass, tactility, and memory.

Designers: Conceptualized as more than just a material space, the Bark Side Table is the expression of thanksgiving to the trees that offer shelter, support, and witness to our experiences. Making appoggiare—being reverent towards something by putting something down on the surface—transformed as the table was meant to be.

Objects such as coffee and side tables embody quietness; objects that don’t impose themselves in any given physical space but always position themselves near to our bodies to be able to receive whatever we carry with ourselves throughout the course of our daily lives—and that may be cups of coffee, books, slight traces of our existence and life. It is perhaps with these quietest of gestures that some meaning is created in our most busy of worlds—and perhaps to ask what we would like to place there and what we would like to leave behind—and why.

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Words: Simone Lorusso