Moooi Zio Coffee Table

The Moooi Zio Coffee Table launched in 2013 alongside the Zio dining tables and chairs - Marcel Wanders basically took his Nordic-influenced design language and shrunk it down to living room scale. You get the same rounded corners and organic shapes as the dining version, just shorter and configured for holding coffee cups instead of dinner plates. Comes in two formats: square at 43 inches on each side if you want symmetry, or rectangular at 57 by 24 inches if you need something that fits better in front of a sofa. Both sit low at about 12 inches tall, which works for most couches without blocking sightlines across the room. Solid oak construction all the way through with the same stain options as the rest of the Zio family - White Wash, Wenge, Natural Oil, Grey, Cinnamon, or Black depending on whether you want light Scandinavian vibes or something darker.

The rounded edges make it easier to navigate around in tight spaces without constantly bumping your shins on sharp corners, and the organic shaping gives it enough personality that it doesn't just disappear into the room like generic rectangular coffee tables. The oak holds up to the daily abuse coffee tables take - drinks getting set down without coasters, feet propped up during movies, magazines and remotes piled on top. At 12 inches high it's the right height for reaching from a seated position without straining, and the solid construction means no wobbling when you lean on it to stand up. The square version works well centered in seating arrangements or floating in the middle of a room, while the rectangular one fits better against sofas or between facing chairs. Those tapered legs with rounded details match the rest of the Zio collection if you're going for a coordinated look, but they're subtle enough that the table works fine on its own with whatever other furniture you already have.

Moooi's Wanders' brand since 2001, and the Zio collection represents him dialing back his usual theatrical style for something more restrained and Nordic. The whole family - dining tables, coffee tables, chairs, buffets - came out together as a coordinated system, though most people just buy whichever pieces they actually need rather than going full matching set. Wanders talks about how coffee tables should bring "playful elegance to your afternoons" which is pretty tame compared to his usual marketing about monsters and dreams, but the furniture itself is solid. Made in the Netherlands where they still care about joinery and finish quality instead of just cranking out flat-pack furniture. The Zio coffee tables have stuck around for over a decade because they hit that sweet spot between having enough design interest to look intentional without being so weird that you get sick of looking at them after six months.