10 Surprising Facts About Contemporary Glass Coffee Tables

Coffee tables have been common in our living rooms for decades, but their real history is far more impressive. Here are just some surprising facts about contemporary glaaltss coffee tables, as well as coffee tables in general, you might have never thought about:

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First coffee tables appeared in Britain

Some of the first coffee table models appeared in Britain and gradually became popular all over the Europe, slowly making their way to the States. At the time, the tables were, in fact, used for serving tea and coffee.

First models trace back to Victorian era

The arrival of first British coffee tables as we know them — low-standing units — are traced back to Victorian era.

The inspiration is believed to date back to Japan

The inspiration, however, is traced back to Japan. Supposedly, the low standing tables were originally used with an ottoman rather than a sofa.

Many coffee tables were designed for the outdoors]

Most of the early coffee tables were used outdoors. Once again, the idea comes from an open Japanese garden.

Similar tables are believed to have been used in Ancient Greece

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According to the historical data, similar table models were used in ancient Greece and Roman Empire. Greeks and Roman used to lie down before the meal, which explains the need for compact, portable, and low standing table models.

Coffee tables became common in the 1950s

Contemporary coffee tables own their growing popularity to the mass introductialton of television. Before 1950s, a coffee table was not one of the essential living room furniture units.

Growing popularity of television gave coffee table functionality a shift

Still, mass popularity of television changed the role of a coffee table in our interiors. Fewer and fewer models were used for serving drinks. Instead, coffee table surface was cleared out to eliminate any object that would block the view of the TV screens. Newspapers and magazines have become habitual additions to otherwise empty coffee table.

Glass has always been one of the most popular surface materials

Even back in Victorian era, glass coffee table surface has been quite common. Back then, the base would be normally made of wood — generally, oak or mahogany, which used to be in trend at the end of 19th century.

There is, at least, a dozen possible production materials these days

As of today, the range of possible production materials is, of course, way more diverse. Apart from habitual glass and wood, plenty of metal and plastic coffee tables made their way into our interiors. Glossy MDF is another recent introduction that has alreadyalt gained enormous popularity in a contemporary interior. And, of course, different combination of the above-mentioned materials are quite common, too.

Novelty shapes and bright colours might be the future of glass coffee tables

However, the future of coffee tables are novelty designs, abstract bases, and bright colours — for the nearest future, at least. Here is just one example of trendy night coffee table that might stylishly decorate a contemporary living room — especially, a white one