The Glass Contemporary Coffee Table

Well I was on youtube again today … the streak continues!

I came across this great video show casing all sort of contemporary furniture including contemporary living rooms, contemporary bedrooms, contemporary bars … and yes glass contemporary coffee tables.

… you will have to wait until the end of the video to see the modern glass coffee tables though.

I think that my favorite … besides the glass contemporary coffee table … was the different bars and accompanying stool. There’s some really cool stuff there. Please do enjoy the following video.

Okay so I’m still looking for inspiration … I’m starting to think that my inspiration took the day off.

… and took my creativity along with.

So with the that, I should warn you that this is not a post about Glass Contemporary Coffee Tables.

… Maybe the next one will talk about Glass Contemporary Coffee Tables.

At any rate, in my quest to find inspiration I came across another great video.  This video covers the subect of choosing a good contemporary color scheme for you home.  It actually a reall good video.  I wish I would have watched it before I went and spent 3 hours at Sherwin Williams picking through the color swatches like marshmellows in a Lucky Charms box.

Well before I ramble on any further … here’s the video:

If you’re like myself … and most people for that fact … sometimes you need a little inspiration.

Right?

Well, today, I’m having one of those days. My contemporary color choices, fabric texture selections and even the placement of contemporary furniture throughout the room can be sumed up in one word … Blah!

So when the contemporary design world gets me down I like to get things going by watching a couple videos for inspiration.

Check this one out … it’s actually really good … especially for color combinations.

What did you think?

I know what your thinking. Where are the glass contemporary coffee tables?

Right?

This is a blog about glass contemporary coffee tables … but I like to think of it as something that is expanding into something that is more. A place where people can find out all kinds of things about modern interior design.

… I’ll make sure that my next post is about glass contemporary coffee tables.

Contemporary style of decorating is something you might like if you like to keep current with styles, enjoy things that are unique, of today, right now.

While contemporary interiors have been thought of as cold and minimalist, today’s contemporary designs are comfortable and welcoming without being messy and dark. This is a style that also translates well across offices and stores, lofts and homes.

A contemporary style home can be a relaxing and rejuvenating retreat. To achieve the look of a contemporary home, it’s important to follow a few basic rules.

Functional, simple, subtle sophistication, texture and clean lines help to define modern style decorating. Space is highlighted over material objects. By focusing on color, space, and shape, contemporary designs are streamlined and fresh.

• Color
  Neutrals, black, and white are the main colors in contemporary style interiors. The palette is often livened up and accented with bright and bold color. Black is often used to ground and define a modern style room. A basic neutral paint is used for the walls, giving a great base for bold colored accessories. Pastel painted walls and windows should have a neutral color for the trim work. And if a wall is painted with bright and bold colors then neutral colors should be used everywhere else.  Pillows are a great way to add color or to help tie in an uniquely colored piece of furniture.
• Contemporary Style Furniture
  Contemporary style furniture pieces should be clean, smooth, and geometric in shape. Furniture should come in black, white, or other neutral tones in textured natural fibers. Fabrics, such as, wool, cotton, linen, silk, jute, and add textural appeal and often have a neutral look. The design of the furniture should be simple and uncluttered, without being rounded or decorative.  Beds and chairs must not a have any skirt, trim, fringe, or tassels.  Sofas, chairs, and ottomans must have exposed legs.
• Line and Space
  The line is the most distinct element of contemporary style interior design. Usually found in structural details, blocks of color, lofty ceilings, stark windows and geometric art.  The dead space on walls, between furniture, and above in lofted areas, becomes just as important as the areas filled with objects. In contemporary interiors, Less is more, is the motto of a contemporary home. Each piece stands out as individual and unique.Take advantage of the structural elements of your home. Air ducts may hang from a ceiling, broken bricks provide texture and stability, and exposed plumbing pipes are perfectly acceptable in a contemporary style interior. To draw the eye, paint these structural details in bold contrasting colors, or to diminish their importance, blend them with the walls.

… and remember if you need an interesting conversation piece in your a room a well designed glass contemporary coffee table always accomplishes the task.

Contemporary decorating can be daunting at first. Where do I start? What color should I use? Am I in over my head? But if you just slow down and follow these 3 steps the task will become less terrifying and more enjoyable.

1. Use furniture and accessories to make a bold statement in contemporary style interior. Use a basic background and use a splash of your favorite color on a piece that will stand out.
2. Less is more! In a contemporary style interior, don’t use ruffles, excessive carved details, fringe, or floral prints. Abolish cute and small. Go basic, bare, bold, and structural.
3. Floors in a contemporary style home should be bare and smooth in wood, tile, or vinyl. If you must use carpet for sound control or warmth, choose commercial grades. Add color and texture with plain or geometric-patterned area rugs.

Contemporary Coffee Table

I hope that you have found these tips useful!  And remember to shop the internet first for contemporary decor and glass contemporary coffee tables.

Before there was the glass contemporary coffee table, there was … well what was there? The coffee table had to start somewhere right? Here’s a brief history of the coffee table.

The first tables, in Europe, specifically designed as and called coffee tables, appear to have been made in Britain during the late Victorian era.

Prior to the late 18th century, the tables used in Europe in conjunction with a settle included occasional tables, end tables, center tables, and tea tables. By 1780, the high backed settle was being replaced by low back sofas and this led to the development of sofa tables which stood against the back of the sofa and could be used by anyone sitting on the sofa to put down a book or a cup.

Shark Coffee Table – Zuo Modern – 406118 Contemporary chic wood veneer base with clear tempered glass top. 406118 Features: *Chocolate stained wood veneer base *Clear tempered glass top *Unique base *Modern design *Triangular shape glass Finish: Clear glass / Chocolate stained Dimensions: 39″(W) x 39″(D) x 18″(H) Warrany Information: This product is covered under a limited 1-year manufacturer’s warranty. Additional warranty information included in packaging. Please call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding this product’s warranty.

According to the listing in Victorian Furniture by R. W. Symonds & B. B. Whineray and also in The Country Life Book of English Furniture by Edward T. Joy, a table designed by E. W. Godwin in 1868 and made in large numbers by William Watt, and Collinson and Lock, is a coffee table. If this is correct it may be one of the earliest made in Europe. Other sources, however, list it only as ‘table’ so this cannot be stated categorically. Far from being a low table, this table was about twenty-seven inches high.

Later coffee tables were designed as low tables and this idea may have been introduced from the Ottoman Empire, based on the tables in use in tea gardens. However, as the Anglo-Japanese style was popular in Britain throughout the 1870s and 1880s and low tables were common in Japan, this would seem to be an equally likely source for the concept of a long low table.

From the late 19th century onwards, many coffee tables were subsequently made in earlier styles due to the popularity of revivalism, so it is quite possible to find Louis XVI style coffee tables or Georgian style coffee tables, but there seems to be no evidence of a table actually made as a coffee table before this time. Joseph Aronson writing in 1938 defines a coffee table as a, “Low wide table now used before a sofa or couch. There is no historical precedent…,” suggesting that coffee tables were a late development in the history of furniture.

I am your classic passionate enthusiast when it comes to Contemporary Furniture. My particular passion and focus is on the Glass Contemporary Coffee Table , even though I enjoy a types of modern to contemporary furniture.

For the last year or so my wife and I have been focused on building our modern furniture collection. Though it tends to be in burst of activity, that I go on the hunt for the next special edition to my collection. My current favorite is the Noguchi Table! Absolutely stunning!

There’s a couple of important things to know, for those thinking about adding Contemporary Furniture or Glass Contemporary Coffee Table to their home.

Most of what is considered Contemporary Design today is nothing more than the evolution of Modern Design. Did you know that Modern furniture refers to furniture produced from the late 19th century through the present that is influenced by modernism. It was a tremendous departure from all furniture design that had gone before it. Dark or gilded carved wood and richly patterned fabrics gave way to the glittering simplicity and geometry of polished metal. The forms of furniture evolved from visually heavy to visually light.

Before the modernist design movement the focus was on furniture as ornament, the time put into creating a piece was usually directly related to its value and desirability. For first half of the 20th Century consumes desires shifted towards function and accessibility. The modern movement sought newness, originality, technical innovation, and ultimately the message that it conveyed spoke of the present and the future, rather than of what had gone before it.

Modernist design seems to have evolved out of a combination of influences: Technically innovative materials and manufacturing methods, the new philosophies that emerged from the Werkbund and the Bauhaus School, from exotic foreign influences, from Art Nouveau and from the tremendous creativity of the artists and designers of that era.

Now you may ask what are some common examples of iconic modern furniture?

a) Marcel Breuer’s Wassily Chair – The Wassily Chair is an ingenious design using only lightweight tubular steel and minimal leather straps

b) Eileen Gray side table – A “non-conformist” design was made for Gray’s sister so that she could eat breakfast in bed.

c) Barcelona chair – (My wife’s current favorite) Was designed by Mies Van Der Rohe and Lilly Reich in 1929 for an international design fair in Barcelona

d) Noguchi coffee table – (My current favorite) Designed by Isamu Noguchi, consist of two identical pieces of wood and a glass top … my ideal modern glass coffee table.

As of late, the modern style as given way to contemporary design. Today contemporary furniture designers and manufacturers continue to evolve design. Constantly in-search of new materials, with which to produce unique forms, still employing simplicity and lightness of form, in opposition to intensely ornate. Most of all they are still striving to step outside of what has gone before to create entirely new visual experiences for us.

The designs that prompted this paradigm shift were produced in the middle of the 20th century, most of them well before 1960. And yet they are still regarded internationally as symbols of the modern age, the present and perhaps even the future. Modern Classic Furniture became an icon of elegance and sophistication.

For more thoughts on Modern/Contemporary furniture check out my blog Glass Contemporary Coffee Table.

If you’re ready to give your home a sophisticated look with a glass contemporary coffee table, there are some important things you need to know before you begin. Just follow these five tips for selecting the perfect glass contemporary coffee table which transform your living room from blah to haute!

1. A important factor when you start to shop for a glass contemporary coffee table is making sure that you have in your mind will work with the rest of your furnishing. The reason why this is important is because there is nothing worse than not enjoying a piece of furniture because it doesn’t go with the rest of your home. If you don’t make sure the piece melds with the rest of your home, then you run the risk of having your new piece of furniture look cheap and out of place.

2. Another important consideration for glass contemporary coffee table is where you start your search. It’s critical that you spend time on the internet and in the bookstore because you’ll want to educate yourself on the different styles, shapes, and colors. If you make sure that you spend at least 1 or 2 weeks researching, then you’ll be fine.

3. You don’t have to interior designer in order to choose the correct glass contemporary coffee table for your home. All you need to do is take the time to do it right, and make sure that you understand what it is that you want.

4. Instead of complicating the purchase of a glass contemporary coffee table by selecting a table that is not the correct size, try it this way: grab a old newspaper and a scissors and then recreate your table with its correct dimensions and lay it down in its future spot. In fact, if you prop your table template up on something the same height, then you will find that you know exactly how your coffee table will fit into the room.

5. Have you considered what pieces you’ll buy in the future to compliment your new table? It’s not as difficult as you might think. What you need to do is start looking at those pieces when your researching your coffee table.

So if you really want to purchase that glass contemporary coffee table, follow these tips to select the perfect glass contemporary coffee table for your beautiful home.

Coffee tables!  The functional center piece of every well designed room.  In particular, the glass contemporary coffee table serves as a great conversation piece and lends itself to a variety of modern/contemporary décor.  One of the most iconic glass contemporary coffee tables ever designed would undoubtedly be the Noguchi Coffee Table.

A glass top resting on interconnected rosewood supports, created specifically for the residence of MoMA president A. Conger Goodyear, was Noguchi’s first version of this table.

Modifying his original design, Noguchi transformed this table into a base consisting of two identical wooden elements and is pinned together at a right angle. Since 1947, this glass contemporary coffee table has been in production for the US market by Herman Miller.

Reminiscent of his bronze and marble sculpture, during the same period, Noguchi described this coffee table as his best furniture design.