Cloud Table Liljencrantz

Award-winning designer Louise Liljencrantz looks to a range of inspirations to create furniture that introduces a sense of intimacy and belonging in a space. The lines of her shapely coffee tables, lounge chairs and other pieces draw on forms found in the natural world, and her distinctive interior design projects evoke the timeless quality and essence of the Scandinavian modern style. 

Liljencrantz credits designers and architects from all over the world with having influenced her work, including notable figures such as Italian architect and designer Carlo Scarpa, American designer and artist Donald Judd, and French decorator Jean-Michel Frank, who got his start in interior design when it was little more than a burgeoning field.

Born in Sweden, Liljencrantz spent many years after high school working in the fashion industry. It wasn't until she had spent time running her own boutique that she realized she wanted to work in interior design. At 30, Liljencrantz returned to school to study graphic design.

Before she even completed her studies, Liljencrantz had landed her first project and established her own design firm in 2009. That project led to more commissions, and her career took off. Since opening her eponymous firm, Liljencrantz has created two distinct brands — Liljencrantz x K.F.K. Master Cabinetmakers and Veermakers. 

The designer prides herself on her studio's uncompromising pursuit of quality through ethical design practices and rich materials, and this commitment characterizes these brands — Liljencrantz is as known for her designs for hospitality properties as much as she is for her high-gloss Chunky Cloud coffee table and other striking home accessories and furnishings made in walnut, oak or steel burned in linseed oil. The studio’s designs are made by Veermakers or handcrafted by master cabinetmakers at Karlsson Fernaeus Kemppainen Snickeri AB in Stockholm.

Find Louise Liljencrantz dining tables, coffee tables and seating on 1stDibs.

As a practical focal point in your living area, antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables are an invaluable addition to any interior.

Low tables that were initially used as tea tables or coffee tables have been around since at least the mid- to late-1800s. Early coffee tables surfaced in Victorian-era England, likely influenced by the use of tea tables in Japanese tea gardens. In the United States, furniture makers worked to introduce low, long tables into their offerings as the popularity of coffee and “coffee breaks” took hold during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

It didn’t take long for coffee tables and cocktail tables to become a design staple and for consumers to recognize their role in entertaining no matter what beverages were being served. Originally, these tables were as simple as they are practical — as high as your sofa and made primarily of wood. In recent years, however, metal, glass and plastics have become popular in coffee tables and cocktail tables, and design hasn’t been restricted to the conventional low profile, either.

Visionary craftspeople such as Paul Evans introduced bold, geometric designs that challenge the traditional idea of what a coffee table can be. The elongated rectangles and wide boxy forms of Evans’s desirable Cityscape coffee table, for example, will meet your needs but undoubtedly prove imposing in your living space.

If you’re shopping for an older coffee table to bring into your home — be it an antique Georgian-style coffee table made of mahogany or walnut with decorative inlays or a classic square mid-century modern piece comprised of rosewood designed by the likes of Ettore Sottsass — there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Both the table itself and what you put on it should align with the overall design of the room, not just by what you think looks fashionable in isolation. According to interior designer Tamara Eaton, the material of your vintage coffee table is something you need to consider. “With a glass coffee table, you also have to think about the surface underneath, like the rug or floor,” she says. “With wood and stone tables, you think about what’s on top.”

Find the perfect centerpiece for any room, no matter what your personal furniture style on 1stDibs — shop Art Deco coffee tables, travertine coffee tables and other antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables today.