Coffee Table Size & Shape Guide

The heart of the living room is the coffee table and getting it right is vital! It’s what you gather around for game night, what you prop your feet on for movie night, and where you rest your book in between reads. It serves a lot of functions and getting the right coffee table to fulfill those needs requires thought. So to make picking the right coffee table for your living room a little easier, I made a Coffee Table Size & Shape Guide.

Let’s break it down step by step –

IDEAL COFFEE TABLE LENGTH

The length of your coffee table depends on the length of your furniture. I aim to find a coffee table that’s approximately 2/3rd the length of my sofa to ensure it looks proportionate to the furniture. For this reason, I rarely prefer circle coffee tables with standard length sofas.

WIDTH

Your coffee table should leave ample walking space while being close enough to prop your feet up or set your drink down. The sweet spot is 14-18” of space between your coffee table and the seating on each side.

HEIGHT

The height of your coffee table depends on the height of your seat cushions. Ideally your coffee table should be around 1-2” below the seat cushion. Never above.

FOR MORE SPACE, CHOOSE OVAL

If your living room is a little tight for walking about, consider an oval coffee table. Rather than downsizing to a smaller coffee table that may look too small for the space, go for an oval coffee table instead. The soft edges create an easier walking path without sacrificing size.

SECTIONALS

Because sectionals naturally create a tighter walking space, a circle, oval, and (occasionally) a square coffee table work best with sectionals.

So let’s put these rules into practice with a few common living room arrangements –