12 crazy coffee tables to enliven your living room
You'll want to keep your dirty shoes off these impressive tables inspired by the USS Enterprise, Star Wars, gaming console controllers and old cassette tapes.
'Inception' as a coffee table
Most coffee tables consist of four legs and a flat top. Kick that furniture stereotype out the door with these oddball coffee tables that integrate Star Wars ships, mimic game controllers and supersize a Lego brick.
Director Christopher Nolan's 2010 movie "Inception" brought some mind-bending images to the big screen, including scenes of a city folding over on itself. That memorable sequence became the inspiration for the Wave City Coffee Table, created by designer Stellos Mousarris. The table is made from wood, steel and 3D-printed components.
Wampa cave and coffee
Chill out your living room decor with this coffee table from Tom Spina Designs. It evokes the wampa-cave scene from the 1980 Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back." You won't actually have to battle a bloodthirsty wampa, but you can still test out your Jedi mind powers on the embedded lightsaber hilt.
Kick back with a brick
Lego bricks are fun toys, but they are way too small to act as coffee tables. That's why you need a giant version in the form of Etsy shop Branching Outward's massive Lego-inspired table. It looks like someone hit a plastic brick with a super-size ray. The table is no longer available for sale on Etsy, but you can still dream about it or figure out how to make your own.
Boldy set your coffee down
Star Wars isn't the only sci-fi series to be immortalized in a custom coffee table. Woodworker Barry Shields created this masterpiece depicting the USS Enterprise from Star Trek and it became quite a hit on the internet in 2012. The table includes a custom glass top that makes it look like the ship is speeding through space, rather than just sitting there holding your old magazines.
Star Wars asteroids
The same designers who brought us a Star Wars wampa-cave coffee table also built this loving tribute to the scene where Han Solo pilots the Millennium Falcon through an asteroid field during a TIE Fighter battle. The table from Tom Spina Designs contains customized ship models and highly detailed asteroids. A sheet of glass tops it off and lets you stare down into the space scenery.
Giant PlayStation controller
Many gamers have their machines set up in their living rooms. Wouldn't it be sweet to set your PlayStation 3 controller down on an oversized PlayStation 3 controller coffee table? Etsy seller WoodCurve offers just such a creation. The handmade table even includes a storage area to tuck away your games and accessories for easy access.
Xbox One table
Not content to offer just a PlayStation-controller coffee table, Etsy seller WoodCurve built a jumbo version of an Xbox One controller. The handmade table stands on hairpin legs and looks just like a giant take on the hand-held gaming device, right down to the Y, X, A and B buttons. Glass protects the top, but the control sticks extend upward from the surface.
Old Mac attack
In 2012, Reform Designs took some old Mac desktops and recycled them into coffee tables. The tables include some extra design features, like large industrial-looking coils between the computers, spinner handles on the side and metal bars that extend up to the glass top.
X-wing fighter table
Impress your sci-fi fan friends with a coffee table that looks like it could take off and battle the forces of the Dark Side at any moment. This handcrafted Star Wars X-wing fighter coffee table from 2013 comes from Barry Shields, the same talent who brought us a USS Enterprise table.
Functional NES table
Some coffee tables do more than just hold your mug full of steaming hot java. This table, created in 2012 by Etsy seller Charles Lushear of Bohemian Workbench, doubles as a functional NES controller. It combines exacting woodwork with mid-century modern legs.
"This table fully functions as a Nintendo NES controller and can be used to play games with the glass removed. The cord is retractable from underneath," notes the product description.
Steampunk
Etsy seller Bohemian Workbench, the creator of the functional NES controller table, stepped things up a couple of notches by turning out a steampunk version of the furniture piece in 2013. This one won't control your gaming console, but it does look spectacular with its brass accents, weathered wood finish and copper-cross D-pad.
Mixtape Table
You like to kick it old school. Forget CDs. You still have a massive cassette-tape collection featuring Phil Collins and Cyndi Lauper. You're the kind of person who needs the Mixtape Table from Jeff Skierka Designs. Created in 2012, the table scales up a cassette and renders it in wood with a glass top. It's one-of-a-kind and will make you nostalgic for the days of tape.