Lucite Propeller Coffee Table

Antique, new and vintage Lucite furniture has been on design editors’ radars for several seasons now, but thanks to a renewed interest in Lucite coffee tables, chairs and other pieces from the late 1960s and ’70s, the trend has reached fever pitch.

“I think there’s a freshness and cleanness to it,” says Fawn Galli, an interior designer based in New York. Not only is Lucite, or transparent plastic, practical, since it can work in nearly any environment, it’s incredibly stylish.

Some of the most acclaimed furniture designers share the same love for Lucite as an effective and practical material for use in any interior.

“I think there’s something really nice about the simplicity of anything Lucite or acrylic — it feels lightweight,” says Tamara Eaton, whose eponymous firm deftly balances traditional and modern designs. Even in the most historical setting, “you can still introduce some Lucite or something kind of lightweight and not have it feel like a distinct interjection, but a playful one that’s more about the shape,” she says.

For the living room in a mid-century modern townhouse in Park Slope, Brooklyn, Eaton chose a pair of box-shaped Lucite tables with copper handles from Jamie Dietrich. “We didn’t want anything to be too heavy, and that area was a place where [the family] would sometimes move those tables so the kids could play,” she says. The tables doubled as snack trays since the kitchen is nearby. “They have this transportable feel to them that I think was really fun.”

Browse a range of antique, new and vintage Lucite side tables, table lamps and other furniture now on 1stDibs.

As a practical focal point in your living area, antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables are an invaluable addition to any interior.

Low tables that were initially used as tea tables or coffee tables have been around since at least the mid- to late-1800s. Early coffee tables surfaced in Victorian-era England, likely influenced by the use of tea tables in Japanese tea gardens. In the United States, furniture makers worked to introduce low, long tables into their offerings as the popularity of coffee and “coffee breaks” took hold during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

It didn’t take long for coffee tables and cocktail tables to become a design staple and for consumers to recognize their role in entertaining no matter what beverages were being served. Originally, these tables were as simple as they are practical — as high as your sofa and made primarily of wood. In recent years, however, metal, glass and plastics have become popular in coffee tables and cocktail tables, and design hasn’t been restricted to the conventional low profile, either.

Visionary craftspeople such as Paul Evans introduced bold, geometric designs that challenge the traditional idea of what a coffee table can be. The elongated rectangles and wide boxy forms of Evans’s desirable Cityscape coffee table, for example, will meet your needs but undoubtedly prove imposing in your living space.

If you’re shopping for an older coffee table to bring into your home — be it an antique Georgian-style coffee table made of mahogany or walnut with decorative inlays or a classic square mid-century modern piece comprised of rosewood designed by the likes of Ettore Sottsass — there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Both the table itself and what you put on it should align with the overall design of the room, not just by what you think looks fashionable in isolation. According to interior designer Tamara Eaton, the material of your vintage coffee table is something you need to consider. “With a glass coffee table, you also have to think about the surface underneath, like the rug or floor,” she says. “With wood and stone tables, you think about what’s on top.”

Find the perfect centerpiece for any room, no matter what your personal furniture style on 1stDibs — shop Art Deco coffee tables, travertine coffee tables and other antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables today.