Puddle Travertine Coffee Table

Born in London, Anna Karlin studied visual communication at Central Saint Martins and the Glasgow School of Art. Now based in New York, she is a multidisciplinary designer, working on interiors and art-direction projects in addition to launching her Furniture + Fine Objects and Anna Karlin Fine Jewelry collections.

Karlin renovated a two-story, burned-out former print shop on the Lower East Side and transformed it into a multipurpose workplace. “Designing, building and opening our showroom and studio in Manhattan really gave people a chance to experience firsthand the types of spaces we can create,” she says. “Since then, we’ve had so many requests that we’ve been able to take on some really exciting projects, both residential and commercial.”

Interested in the tension between the natural and the man-made, Karlin was working on a forthcoming collection in 2019: “We’ll show a capsule in Milan in April and then we’ll launch the full collection in New York in May,” she said of her work at the time. “Working on this collection, I’ve really given myself the space to push further the concept of usable sculpture.”

Find Anna Karlin lighting, chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs today.

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.