5 Unique Coffee Table Designs

By Susan Kleinman

"I just liked it," she recalls of the anonymous piece that reminded her of work by noted artist Sol Lewitt. "It was only later that it occurred to me that it might make a great coffee table."

And make a great coffee table it does in Angus's own home in St. Helena, Calif. The open, hollow piece in white-painted wood suits the airy feel of the living room and adds a strong contrast to the antique Georgian settee next to it. "It's completely unexpected," says Angus, a creative thinker who also has stacked piles of antique sock boxes (a French dry goods shop find) as tables in her library. "And it's that sort of contrast that really makes a room."

To create similar drama in your own home, look past the label on a piece of furniture or art and focus on finding something that really speaks to you. The result, says Angus, will be a home that looks and feels as unique as you are — and will never be mistaken for a furniture showroom's selling floor.

Photo by Matthew Millman