Console Table Ideas Beyond the Hallway: Living Room, Dining Room, Bedroom and Landing

The console table is sold as hallway furniture, and the hallway is where most of them go. But a narrow table with a surface at waist height turns out to be useful almost everywhere, and in a lot of homes it does a better job somewhere else.

Here is where else it works, and the honest limits of each.

Behind a sofa

The best second home for a console. A sofa that floats in the room, or divides an open-plan space, has a bare back; a console gives it a finished edge, a place for a lamp and somewhere to put a drink down. The height should match the sofa back or sit just below it, and the length should never exceed the sofa's.

We have a whole guide to it: a console table behind a sofa.

Under a wall-mounted TV

A console under a TV on the wall holds a soundbar, a lamp and a few objects, and gives the screen a piece of furniture to sit above rather than floating on a bare wall. The long consoles suit a large TV: the 180cm Hoxton and the 160cm Cotswold are wider than most screens.

As a stand for a TV on its own feet, check the footprint first. Most of our consoles are 30cm deep, which is shallower than many TV stands, so measure the TV's base against the table top before you rely on it.

In the dining room

Along a dining room wall, a console works as a server: somewhere for the serving dishes when the table is full, a bottle of wine and a lamp to soften the room in the evening. At 180cm the Hoxton is long enough to hold a full spread of serving dishes.

Length helps here, so the long consoles are the natural choice. If you want somewhere for the cutlery, napkins and placemats too, the Beaumont has two drawers and a full lower shelf, in black, green or blue.

In the bedroom, as a dressing table

A console makes a good dressing table, and often a better-looking one than furniture sold for the job. Hang a mirror above it, add a lamp, and choose one with drawers or doors for make-up and jewellery. The Beaumont's drawers and the Fitzroy's sliding tambour doors both suit.

Pair it with an armless seat that tucks underneath when you are not using it. A velvet chair such as the Sterling, which we sell as an office chair, suits a bedroom and slides under.

On a landing

A wide landing is often an awkward, empty space. A console with a lamp and a picture above it makes it feel like part of the house rather than a corridor. Measure the depth you can spare without narrowing the route to the stairs.

On a narrow landing, the Ancuta is the one to look at: 100cm wide, 30cm deep, with a half-moon top that has no front corners to catch a hip on.

In an open-plan room

In an open-plan space, a console can mark the edge of a zone: the end of the living area, the line between the kitchen and the sofa. Here the base is seen from all sides, so a sculptural one earns its place. The Belgravia's fluted disc base and the Mayfair range, including the black Barbican, on a central fluted pedestal, are designed to be looked at.

As a desk: only briefly

It is tempting to use a console as a desk in a small home, and for checking emails on a laptop it is fine. For a working day it is the wrong shape. Our consoles stand 75cm to 85cm high, taller than most desks, and most are 30cm deep, which is not enough room for a screen and a keyboard. If you need somewhere to work, a desk and a proper chair are worth the space; our guide to office chairs for a small home office covers the chair.

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For sizing, read our console table size guide, and for dressing it, how to style a console table. Or browse all the console tables.