Glass Coffee Tables

Why choose a glass coffee table

Glass earns its place when the floor is doing the decorating. A good rug, wide floorboards or a small sitting room all benefit when the eye can travel through the table, and a clear or lightly tinted top allows it. Glass also throws light back into the room rather than soaking it up, which counts in a dim or north-facing space. The trade is that, through clear glass, the base is in view from above as well as from the side, so choose its shape and finish as carefully as the glass.

Clear or smoked glass coffee tables

We stock both clear and smoked glass, and the choice comes down to how much you want to see beneath the top. Clear glass hides nothing, which suits a room with a rug worth looking at and a lower shelf you are happy to style. Smoked glass keeps some of the openness but mutes what sits below, a help when the shelf gathers magazines, keys and post. Neither tint is the low-maintenance choice: fingerprints show on any glass in raking light, and pale dust tends to stand out more on a dark tint than on clear glass over a light floor.

Which finish suits a glass coffee table

Black is the finish we stock most often in this range, followed by gold, and many of the designs are modern, with a few leaning mid-century or industrial. Black sits quietly with grey or charcoal upholstery and monochrome schemes, and it frames smoked glass without drawing attention. Gold, brass and bronze warm the glass and sit well beside walnut, cream fabrics and green or blush velvet; a few designs in silver suit a cooler room with steel or chrome lamps. Whatever the finish, spray cleaner onto the cloth, not the table, as overspray drying on painted or plated metal can spot or dull it.

What marble or wood changes on a glass coffee table

Marble adds weight, which steadies the table but makes it harder to move, and unlike glass it is porous, so a coaster still earns its keep on the stone. Keep vinegar, a favourite home glass cleaner, off the stone entirely, because its acid etches marble. Wood brings the warmth a clear top lacks; it dislikes standing water, so wring your cloth out well and dry any wooden edge the cloth catches.

What size glass coffee table to buy

We stock glass coffee tables in medium and large sizes, plus a few extra-large designs for a long sofa or an L-shaped layout. A see-through top lets you go a little bigger than you would in solid wood before the room feels crowded, though that holds best with clear glass. What should not shrink is the gap in front of the sofa: leave roughly forty to fifty centimetres so knees and shins clear it, because a glass edge has no give when you catch it.

Cleaning a glass coffee table without streaks

Streaks come from too much product rather than too little effort. A barely damp microfibre cloth followed by a dry one, buffed in straight lines, lifts most marks; keep a spray for greasy fingerprints. In a hard-water area, drips left to dry turn into chalky spots, so wipe them while wet. Grit is what scratches glass, so lift ornaments instead of sliding them, and put felt pads under vases, trays and anything with a rough ceramic foot.

What to check before you order a glass coffee table

Look in the specification for the glass type and thickness: a thicker top feels more solid under the hand and flexes less across a long span. Check the weight as well, because glass paired with marble or metal can make a heavy piece to carry in and lift for cleaning underneath. Then measure the route from the front door to the sofa, since a large glass top cannot bend round a tight stair turn.