Affe at 23.2 in suits a sofa or a lounge chair. Affe at 31.1 in is a lamp table: it stands beside a reading chair and puts the lamp where you read.
How high should a side table be?
Level with the armrest, or up to about 2 in below. Your hand drops onto it without lifting your elbow. Most sofa and lounge chair arms sit between 21.7 and 25.6 in.
How high next to the sofa arm?
Measure from the floor to the top of the arm, at the front where your hand rests. Aim for a top level with that line, or up to about 2 in below: your hand drops onto the table without lifting the elbow or leaning over the arm.
Affe at 23.2 in sits level with a 23.2 in arm and just below arms up to 25.2 in. Stand it close to the arm, towards the front of the seat, so you reach sideways rather than back. A table behind the line of the arm ends up as a shelf you twist round to use.
How big a top?
A cup, a phone and a book need about ø12 in. Add a lamp and you want ø15.7 in. Affe's 23.2 in table has a ø12 in top; the 31.1 in has ø15.7 in.
Bigger than that and it becomes a coffee table that blocks the walkway.
Why a pedestal?
One central turned oak column instead of four legs. It fits closer to a sofa or chair because there are no legs to catch, and it reads as a sculpture in an empty corner.
Affe is solid oak, top and base in the same finish, so it can be refinished if marked.
Where else does it work?
As a nightstand beside a low bed. As a plant stand. In a hallway for keys. In pairs either side of a sofa.
In the bedroom guide, Affe is the low-bed option; here it is the sofa-height one.
How do I style a side table?
Keep it to a few things: something you use, something living, something with height. On the ø12 in top that is a cup, a phone and a book; the ø16 in top has room for a lamp as well, or a small plant.
Keep the edge nearest the seat clear, where your hand lands with a glass. The grouping rules from the coffee table work here too: see how to style a coffee table.
Arm height, cup-and-book top
- Build
- solid oak pedestal
- Finishes
- natural, dark, black
- Use
- sofa, chair, bed
