Just as there are over 150 shades of white… yes…150 shades of WHITE. There are just as many colours shades and tones of marble. Varying on region and which mountain it was cut from, no wonder it’s so expensive! You can’t get the real deal anywhere else other than the motherland.
Whilst you have your classic shades of white, it also comes in rich greens and reds, warm soft natural beige and brown tones. As well as electric blues and marbleous pinks. The colours are mesmerising, but nowhere near as captivating as the patterns that decorate the base palette. Swirling, twirling, wrapping, zipping and zig-zagging, like lightning bolts or tiny flowing rivers, falling off the smooth cut edges like something out of a Dr Seuss book. There really is nothing like it.
Recently there was a feature in LIVINGETC on the 36 best marble coffee tables. Here we list some of the highlights from this article.
Why choose a marble coffee table?
For the majority of us, a marble coffee table is probably going to be an investment purchase. They often cost a bit more than a wooden coffee table due to the material being rarer, heavier, and harder to work with in terms of creating furniture. But there’s a reason it’s a go-to favourite for interior designers: With its ability to take on a highly polished finish, marble is a luxurious, decorative material, but it’s also reassuringly solid. Marble furniture pieces add elegance and sophistication, they are hard-wearing, long-lasting, and will last for generations and generations. They keep their value, they have an elegant, timeless quality to them – plus each slab offers its own unique pattern of veining, making every piece one-of-a-kind.
“A marble coffee table is a great accent piece for any space because they are the perfect blend of toughness and luxury, while the materiality adds moments of movement and texture,” Kelly Wearstler explains.
What to consider before investing in a marble coffee table
Marble coffee tables need careful maintenance due to the porous nature of the marble, but if cared for properly, a piece of marble furniture can outlast all other furniture. A beautiful marble tabletop will allow even the most modern coffee table design to sit in a traditional interior. It’s also a piece of furniture that’s pivotal to a living room scheme and deserves careful consideration.
How to choose the right size marble coffee table for your space
Height-wise, your coffee table should sit at around the same height as the seat/cushions on your sofa, give or take two inches. Any more and you risk the space looking and feeling just a little off. In terms of length, the ideal coffee table will be at least half the length of your sofa (but no more than roughly ⅔ the length). For corner sofas and L-shaped sofas, you’ll want the coffee table to be around ⅔ the length of the longest part. This will ensure that no matter where you sit, you’ll always be able to reach the tabletop.
Finally, Consider connecting the surfaces of the room together, by either matching the coffee table with a sideboard or existing fireplace or having a pair of matching side tables.
My style rule book for a harmonious home is a third pattern, a third plain and a third textured. Previous to purchase I would ensure the space isn’t already overloaded with patterns, as I like marble space to breathe and take centre stage.
Our Favourite Marble Coffee Table’s
The curved edges of an oval or round marble coffee table can soften the feel of a room that has lots of straight lines, plus it allows for a better flow in a high-traffic space. Oval or round marble coffee tables can also appear to use less space and can look less clunky than rectangular ones.
These are the best oval-shaped marble coffee tables…
1. Knoll Tulip Oval Coffee Table
Designed in 1957 by Eero Saarinen, the Knoll Tulip Oval Coffee Table is both elegant and modern. Widely recognised and a favourite among interior designers, it became an instant design classic. The Knoll Tulip table collection is vast in size and marble top types as there are 10 colours of marble. This is where I source most of my marble coffee, side and dining tables. I love how the edge is disguised as a thin detail.
“Without a doubt, the most popular marble coffee table is the Saarinen Tulip Oval Coffee Table from Knoll as it has the most iconic and instantly recognisable silhouette making it a true classic,” says Campbell Thompson, Head of Furniture and Lighting for The Conran Shop.
Designed in 1966, by Warren Platner, the Platner Collection captured the “decorative, gentle, graceful” shapes that were beginning to infiltrate the modern vocabulary. The iconic coffee table, which creates a focal point in any modern living room, is created by welding hundreds of curved steel rods to circular frames, simultaneously serving as structure and ornament.