Dining furniture that comes with table and matching dining room chairs and is sold as dining room sets sometimes also have a matching buffet or china cabinet or a third piece of furniture to add to the total package. But often the buffet that goes with the set is too long or too wide to fit in a dinning room, and that is why sometimes a narrow console table is just right to be that third piece of dinning room furniture.

Half Moon Bar Table

There is another use for a tall narrow console table, especially the half moon shaped ones, and that is to replace bar tables. If you are redecorating a basement or kitchen or even a living room, and you mount a half moon or demilune console table to the wall, perhaps between two windows or along a wall that can hold a barstool or two, a bar console table will then serve as a place to set a drink or serve snacks for a cocktail party or simply when there are guests.

A round pub table may take up too much floor space, while a mounted half moon or drop leaf table may be exactly right depending on how high you mount it to the wall. If the tables you go with are not the kind that have a wall mount option but are freestanding, with at least three legs, they could also be placed as corner pub tables because often the demilune console tables will have a V-shape back and a half moon front that fit snug in such places without taking up much space. And because this style of table is open from the table top to the floor, a bar stool can easily be pushed under it and out of way until needed.

Most homes don’t have the luxury of a space for a bar table as well as other side tables and sofa tables, but by ingeniously using half moon wall mounting consoles or tall freestanding console tables you can have cocktail tables and barstools even in limited space.

Bistro Table Alternative

Similar to the bar table idea, the small console table designs will lend themselves well to doubling as a bistro table. This can be especially true in a kitchen where there is limited space and dining room tables are just too large. For example, if the kitchen has a large window, below it could be mounted a console table or a narrow glass console table could be placed so the top is at the level of the window sill.

A stool or two could then be added to create a bistro feeling, or to replace a kitchen counter stool idea. Console tables can often fit where larger bistro tables will not, in a kitchen or dinning area or even near a patio or balcony, and can be a wonderful place to sit and sip a morning coffee or read the paper. And because console tables are tall and narrow they will take up less space and fit against walls or under windows more easily. The contemporary glass console table designs that are sleek and have no drawers or shelves are especially suited to this purpose, or the half moon console table designs that will give the bistro feel although they will not be totally round, but will leave lots of leg room below for stools which is part of the enchantment of the bistro concept.

A pedestal table may appear to be small, but because they need space around all sides, they tend to use a lot of space and unless used on a patio or deck, may just not be practical. That is why the leg placement of a console table is unique and useful — often having no legs, just wall mounting brackets or two in front and a wall mount, or three strategically placed.

Sofa Tables and how to Incorporate a Console Table

Side tables and sofa table sets are designed to be low as are the traditional glass coffee tables or square coffee table styles that rest in front of a sofa and serve as accent tables that are generally unobtrusive to conversations and simply serve as a place to rest a drink, snacks or to place magazines and books that are current. Console tables cannot replace these pieces because they are normally built too high to serve as coffee table furniture or end tables, and they tend to be long and narrow or shaped as a half moon which just don’t work beside or in front of a sofa or love seat.

However there is one exception to this. Console tables can be sofa tables if the sofa is placed in the middle of the room, or used as a divider in a large open space like a loft. Then a tall narrow table that is exactly the height of the back of the sofa can be placed behind it and is in fact the ideal height to set a drink or to have magazines or books to read while sitting.

The mirrored console table designs that have tall sleek chrome legs and are rectangular in shape can be a perfect accent for a contemporary leather sofa, or if the living room sofa is mission style furniture with wooden arms and legs, a mission console table in a similar wood finish will accent the back of this sofa nicely. Other mission furniture and accent table designs that are lower can be placed at arm level along the sides or between sofa and loveseats and armchairs and the entire room is pulled together.

Mission Table Designs

Since there are companies that specialize in mission table designs and create simplistic and modern versions of the mission end table that match the consoles and sofa styles, it is possible to select all pieces in the exact same wood finish. For example a mission oak design can be carried through in the entire living space with a series of mission oak furniture made by talented Amish carpenters who specialize in the mission style.

This can be carried through to include a mission dining room table and chairs and that way the wood furniture is all the same in the open space. This may not be as much of a concern in a home where the rooms are divided by walls, but in an open layout, which is increasingly more popular it is good to consider a dinning table or dinette sets that will match the other furniture in basic style.

Mixing and Matching Furniture Styles

I am not suggesting that everything must be identical, in fact it is good to have a piece or two of furniture that is uniquely different, but keep with the theme. Don’t mix glass dining tables with oak occasional tables if they are in the same space. Try to avoid using a modern coffee table or glass tables as accents if all the rest of the area is antique or wrought iron. A single antique table or oak table in an otherwise contemporary décor will not look like a feature, it will just seem out of place. Remember that a console table is an accent and it should be one of two things: a select piece that stands out as unique and unusual or should blend perfectly with the existing style.

One Unique Console Table

When I say that a console table should stand out as unique, this will best apply to a singular piece that stands alone, like hall tables or one single marble table with a mirror above it near an entrance. An entry table can be a rich elegant piece that is one of a kind and need not be exactly the some as the rest of the furniture, but it must have some correlation to the overall theme. This is especially true if the overall home design is conservative. Mixing and matching styles is not a good idea. In retro and art deco or antique themes or ethnic styles, this rule may be bent somewhat, but not if your furnishings are classic mission style or oak or cherry wood or rustic unfinished pine. Stick to a design theme and add an accent console table that goes with the overall statement or tone.

Italian glass coffee table and glass dining table designs that are as much art as they are functional through FIAM, the brainchild of designer Vittorio Livi, began in 1973 with innovative glass furniture that incorporated a blend of traditional techniques with innovative technology and unique design.


Creating practical yet unusual pieces is not just a matter of having a sheet of glass and setting it on a pedestal base or legs that are interesting, but when it comes to all glass furniture, like that produced through FIAM, it’s about forming and molding glass through cutting, grinding and milling, then bending the sheets via heat, over 600 degrees, controlling the process so the glass won’t crystallize, but will reach an even temperature without breaking so it will be moldable.

One example of just how unique the FIAM creations really are is the Hydra glass coffee table, designed theoretically by Massimo Morozzi, and I say “theoretically” because his design was only possible to produce in real life after FIAM invented a water pumping machine capable of creating an abrasive power equal to 1,000 meters/second.


The processes of heating, bending, molding, silvering and engraving require high-tech equipment and great skill to produce the glass cocktail tables and glass console designs that may begin in an exhibition hall and complete their purpose in life as a place to set a cup of coffee, a newspaper or a dinner plate. Truly innovative modern glass designs are therefore expensive; an investment in quality.


Since many of us can’t afford to invest in original art to hang on our walls, much less an original glass top dining table from a glass artist’s workshops, we find ourselves looking for cheap imitations – buying Monet prints instead of bidding at auctions, buying molded plastic tables instead of curved glass…however, even good quality imitations and reproductions require skill to craft. But it doesn’t seem to matter if you can afford the very best or something more modest, unique modern glass table designs are not the most affordable furniture choice.


Although as a whole, we endeavor to present ideas on where to get affordable glass coffee tables, side tables, end tables and consoles that are as unique as possible, please keep in mind that designer glass creations may still be out of reach for the average home decorator. If your budget is very limited, there are cheap glass table options you can buy through websites that offer regular manufactured items which are also for sale in furniture shops and department stores.

But for something different……

Ardeco Interior Glass Tables



Innovation, craftsmanship and unique quality designs are what set Ardeco furniture in a class apart. If you want superior glass top dining tables and coffee tables that are handmade with bases and frames from French oak, you’re sure to appreciate The Moravia Collection. Custom designs are also available if you need specific sizes or have a design in mind. However, the crisp simplicity of pieces like the Olgoj table are ideal just as they are for a kitchen, dinning area, outdoor patio or even in a studio.


The glass top table in the same collection is a sleek refined piece of furniture. Also crafted in Moravian and French oak, ready to be finished in any way that will compliment your décor.


For some truly unusual creations, contact the talented team at Ardeco Interier at: Pankrac 1221, 33023 Nyrany, Czech Republic or in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Spain, Italy and the USA via the appropriate representative you can find by going to their main product website at Ardeco.


Swanky Design UK

Designer Nitul Panchal, working with Graham Langham as technical designer, being also a consultant for Formula 1, Indy and MotoGP, have engineered some of the greatest contemporary extending glass table models available. One piece is a tabletop made of glass with steel electropolished structural legs bonded to the glass, which allows for up to 1,200 lbs of pressure to be exerted on each leg without sustaining damage. Although you may not be planning on using your table as a dance floor to test its endurance, the design is sturdy, contemporary and exclusive to Swanky Design.


In coffee tables and end tables, Nitul Panchal has outdone herself with pieces like the Hula. The glass is also bonded to a gorgeous brush stainless steel leg structure equally as strong as the above mentioned table. There are round end tables, unusually styled, A-symmetrical square glass end table creations, black glass table and console units ideal for small spaces.


But perhaps the best of all is the double glass side table design, called the Coco Overarm Occasional Table, that can be placed over a sofa armrest to save space and offer convenient coffee cup placement and an extra swiveling round glass top that can still accommodate a magazine, book or other items. Ingenious! Nitul Panchal’s designs give a whole new meaning to the words: round glass coffee table.

Andreu World




If you think that Spanish furniture designers are only specialists in making rustic antique wood tables and gorgeous carved chests, you’ll have to change your opinion after seeing what Spanish designer Francisco Andreu Marti has been creating since 1955.

Just for a small taste of what has made Andeu World an international name in round glass table top design is the collection of round etched-effect tempered glass table tops and the crystal tops that sit on stainless steel or exclusive Ginox bases.


In the Murano line, there are also square glass table designs and frosted or etched styles that give the illusion of color and texture. If you would like to view more of this innovative designer’s work, or order pieces, you can see the very latest designs from the Milan Furniture Fair 2010, like “Andreu World presents Pure collection in Milan”, which is a line of tables by Joan Lao, as well as Piergiorgio Cazzaniga designs like Reverse. You may appreciate the funky addition to his collections like the recyclable aluminum structures that fold like paper, or may also enjoy seeing the Lineal Confidente and SIT seating designs to match the tables, which were presented at Stockholm Furniture Fair 2010. Visit the Andreu World website to get inspiration and view complete glass table and chairs collections that are functional / contemporary – ideal for ultra modern homes and commercial spaces.

Glass Cocktail Table and Black Dinning Table Designs By Walter Knoll & Chaisor



Walter Knoll is a company that blends architecture and furniture design in such a way as to create complete contemporary concepts that add fluidity to space by offering not just a piece of furniture but a mood, an ambiance, born from the designing minds of talented people like Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd who work from their London studio and are represented in the showrooms of Walkter Knoll. Top furniture designers from around the world are featured in the outstanding Knoll glass cocktail table, dinning table and other collections…ddesigners such as Claudio Bellini, Ben van Berkel, EOOS, Norman Foster, Jørgen Kastholm, Kengo Kuma, Wolfgang C. R. Mezger, and Toan Nguyen.


This group of talent offers unconventional pieces like the black glass dinning table designed by Toan Nguyen for The Bellows Collection. Bellows includes a complete series of glass dinning sets, chairs, occasional tables, and even stools. Paired with black leather, rich hardwoods, contemporary motifs and mood lighting, these items create atmosphere in ways that transparent glass table tops simply don’t offer.


Chaisor is another place to find above average designer glass bar table and cocktail table creations as well as high-end console tables that are thin and geometric by design. In cocktail / bar designs the St Tropez is one that stands out as a contemporary architectural structure that offers a distinct air of modern elegance. Many of the exclusive, award winning, Chaisor designs are not as expensive as you might imagine. In fact, some are only around $750, which in the world of European designer glass furniture is a bargain.


What Now?



If you’re looking for a cheap round glass dining table or a unique idea for a round kitchen table or are looking for an elusive contemporary console table, please view related topics that expand on these specific types of furniture. At Mission Console Table we take pride in offering information, product reviews and decorating tips, so you can get what you need to create a living space that’s uniquely your own.

Featured Today

In today’s post we have recommended glass furniture designs by the following companies and designers: FIAM / designer Vittorio Livi; designer Massimo Morozzi; Ardeco furniture; Swanky Design / designer Nitul Panchal and Graham Langham; Andreu World / designer Francisco Andreu Marti; Walter Knoll / featured designer Toan Nguyen and Chaisor Mobilier Contemporain.

There was a hall console table with wrought iron legs and a mirrored model that belonged in a New York penthouse and a modern twist that would work in a loft in Tokyo. There was a contemporary console table line to match abstract art lovers and glass tables that had no wood or iron or anything but glass. And these glass numbers were so glassy they were invisible, in fact one was named ‘an invisible sculpture console table’.

I did eventually find a series of half moon console table designs that were at least in keeping with my original console table quest, but many were oak console tables or pine console table designs that were still too large for the area I had space for. I found out to my dismay that a cheap console table is not a possibility in the style I wanted because the antique console table that I eventually found was about $800, and was in fact a replicated blend of two different Spanish designs.

Help Finding Your Console Table

The reason for this console table story is that while I searched for a very elusive piece of furniture, and scoured showrooms across Europe, and searched the internet and gleaned details, I stumbled upon a lot of useful information about this unique piece of furniture. I thought that perhaps other people were also hunting for a console table but didn’t know here to begin, like me. So I decided to write about the many different styles and designs that suit many décors and hopefully give you a head start with your particular console table aspiration.

In these next few articles, I will show you, or talk about, and review, what is available in modern console tables, wood console table, iron console table and glass console table designs. Primarily I will focus on what is hot right now in glass and other modern styles like the mirrored console table and the hottest of all, the mission console table that is simple and elegant for a variety of decorating styles. I will also touch on what is available in oak console table and hard wood console table choices that are out of the ordinary and may be imported from exotic places.

But just to be clear, let me define what a console table is.

It’s a small table fixed to a wall by brackets and therefore is freestanding or it may be a slightly larger table designed to stand against a wall or attached to the wall in the back while still having two legs in front.