Best console tables for decoration and storage in 2024
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The entryway can be a tricky space to furnish.
Typically narrow, dark and long, the average British vestibule isn’t best suited to grand or chunky pieces of furniture. That lack of storage makes it a prime spot for clutter.
Pushing against a mountain of shoes to access the front door isn’t the best way to return to or leave the house. Not only is it a dangerous trip hazard, but it looks pretty awful too.
While shoe cabinets and racks can hide away footwear (a must-have for busy households), other essentials need to go somewhere: we’re talking keys, post, brollies and the like.
In situations like this, a console table comes into its own. The tall and narrow designs have just enough space to keep the essentials without crowding into the space and dominating the room.
While they’re most popular for hallways, they can be used practically anywhere in the house, from the bedroom as a dressing table alternative to the dining room for extra space to keep your ‘for best’ cutlery and crockery. Depending on your living room set-up, a console table can be placed behind the sofa to use for drinks and snacks, or serve as a TV stand if you’re looking for something with more character than a standard entertainment unit.
Like its close relation, the side table, console tables are available in a wealth of shapes, themes and sizes - meaning there’s something for every taste and budget. Choose a streamlined one for keeping vases of fresh flowers or consider a design with drawers to create valuable extra storage, keeping clutter out of sight.
If you’re looking for a new console table to enhance the space you have, you’re in luck. We’ve rounded up the best options available to buy right now below. From vintage looks to clever over-radiator iterations, there’s plenty of inspiration for thought.
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Bloomsbury Market 95cm Console Table
Dimensions: 90 x 95 x 26cm
What it lacks in a fancy name it more than makes up for in aesthetic beauty. Visitors will never guess that this rich red vintage-look piece is crafted from MDF thanks to the beautiful detailing, from leaf-shaped hinges to decorative key bolt locks. At only 26cm wide, it’s perfect for small spaces.
Devlin and Co Design Radiator Console Table
Dimensions: varies
Radiators may be a necessary part of British homes, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be used in other ways besides heating the house. Devlin and Co makes super slim tables designed to sit over the fitting and provide storage without eating into the rest of the space. This design is finished with an on-trend scallop border, adding to its appeal.
COSTWAY Vintage Console Table
Dimensions: 33 x 132 x 85cm
Life’s hard enough without catching your clothing on furniture corners (which, incidentally, always happens when you’re in a rush). Enjoy the smooth edges of this half-moon console which offers two surfaces to store and display your things.
Best suited to the hallway, lounge, or behind the sofa, it comes with two drawers to hide away clutter. The aged blue hue gives it a vintage vibe that we’ll pass off as an antique find.
Oliver Bonas Bambou Green Mahogany Wood Desk & Dressing Table
Dimensions: 88 x 116 x 40.5cm
Chock full of vintage appeal, Oliver Bonas’s bamboo-themed design would serve well as a console, despite being labelled a desk or dressing table. The versatile piece is finished in a showstopping racing green hue and comes with two drawers for extra storage.
Rosalind Wheeler Beauman 90cm Console Table
Dimensions: 90 x 76 x 35cm
Even minimalists understand the need for some kind of storage situation in the hallway. This sleek black console is perfect for smartening up the space. It comes with twin drawers to hide mess as well as a lower platform for keeping shoes, scarves and hats. Use the tabletop to keep your in-tray and flowers; a far preferable sight than a mountain of footwear when stepping into the house.
La Redoute Interieurs Loama Braided Rattan Console Table
Dimensions: 104 x 37 x 84cm
Rattan? Check. Scallop trim? Check. Endless styling opportunities? You got it.
There’s a lot to love about this beautiful console, made from braided rattan, especially if you love the natural look or are deep in a cottagecore interiors obsession. The piece is finished with a plant-based finish to help keep it clean, but running over the surfaces with a microfibre cloth every so often won’t hurt. Shelves or a bottom shelf would have taken this piece from ‘nice-to-have’ to ‘take-my-money-now-please’.
Rockett St George Black Vintage Style Metal Distressed Console Table With Drawer
Dimensions: 86 x 150 x 39.5cm
Distressed to perfection, this metal console table promises to steal the show in whatever room it’s placed in. For us, the headline detail is the lower shelf with graceful swoops and arches painting an unusual yet attractive shape. Finished with vintage-style knobs and light wearing on the surface, this will be a joy to style in your home.
COSTWAY Sideboard Storage Cabinet
Dimensions: 117 x 38 x 86cm
Console tables aren’t just for the hallway. The slim cupboards/ sideboards can be used anywhere you could use a little more storage, from the bedroom and living room to the kitchen. With spacious drawers and doors, this elegant blue pinewood piece is perfect for keeping fancy dinnerware in the dining space, with a shelf underneath to keep more things. Clear the top and it’ll serve as a buffet table for guests to graze from at parties.
Dunelm Remi Console Table
Dimensions: 80 x 121 x 35cm
Cute, compact and with a scallop trim: what more could you ask for? Dunelm’s scalloped console comes in four charming shades including this warm clay finished with gold-coloured drawer knobs. The sturdy piece will require some DIY elbow grease on arrival as it comes flat-packed. For these results though, we’re willing to break a sweat.
Hygrad Console Hallway Table
Dimensions: 25 x 100 x 80cm
Proving that you needn’t dig deep for a smart look, this ultra-slim console table offers an impressive volume of storage for such compact dimensions. As well as a bottom shelf crafted with mesh to encourage airflow, there are also three drawers to keep valuables out of sight and a top surface that’s just wide enough to keep houseplants and keys.