Teak Coffee Table with Spindle Gallery

The coffee table is the most honest piece of furniture in the house, because whatever the family actually does all evening ends up on it within the hour, the chai, the remote, the homework that migrated from the desk, and a table built for that life needs three things, a generous top, a shelf underneath for the overflow, and something worth looking at once everything gets cleared. This one has all three, and it's the third that makes it.

Straight with you on the practical side. This is a proper full size centre table, measure the room before it arrives, and give the sofa its clearance. The tiles sit in the apron, not the top, so daily use never touches them, the top takes the cups and the elbows, the tiles just take the compliments, and a wipe with a dry cloth keeps the glaze bright.

For the living room that hosts every evening, the family whose table is the real dining table, or anyone who saw those lotus tiles and didn't need the rest of this description. The chai goes on top. The colour stays on the sides.