Why a Console Table Is 76cm and a Side Table Is 55cm

Put a console table and a side table next to each other in a showroom and they look like the same idea at two scales: same timber, same legs, same clean top. Buy the wrong one for the spot you had in mind and you find out quickly that they are not related at all.

The whole difference is roughly 20cm of height. Every console in the Cedora range stands between 76cm and 82.5cm. Every side table stands between 55cm and 58cm. One is a surface for a person on their feet and the other is a surface for a person already sitting down.

Key Takeaways

• Consoles run 76cm to 82.5cm high; side tables run 55cm to 58cm.
• Consoles are 36cm to 38cm deep, too narrow to work at and right for a hallway.
• The two 150cm consoles have no drawers; the two 120cm consoles have drawers and a shelf.
• Every side table is 55cm wide, so they all take about 0.3 square metres of floor.
• Sofa backs sit at 75cm to 85cm, which is what makes 82.5cm the behind the sofa height.

A Console Is Built for Someone Standing Up

The Liverpool Pine Console Table - Natural is 150 x 38 x 76cm, and the Oxford Acacia Console Table is 150 x 36 x 76cm. Both are as tall as a dining table and both are less than 40cm deep, and that combination tells you exactly what they are for.

Thirty eight centimetres is narrower than it sounds. A dinner plate is 27cm across, so a console will hold one with almost nothing to spare, which is why nobody eats at one and nobody should try to work at one either. What that depth does buy is passage: in a hallway around a metre wide, a console leaves you more than 60cm to walk through with a bag of shopping.

The pair of them are deliberately bare. No drawers, no shelf, just a top on legs, which leaves the floor underneath free for baskets, shoes or nothing at all. In a narrow entry that emptiness is the point, because a solid piece of furniture the same size would make the corridor feel half as wide. The black Liverpool does the same job while reading as heavier.

The Taller Consoles Do a Different Job

The Byron Acacia 3 Drawer Console Table and the Richmond Pine 2 Drawer Console Table - Natural are both 120 x 38 x 82.5cm. Thirty centimetres shorter in length, 6.5cm taller, and both carry drawers above an open lower shelf. That is a different piece of furniture wearing the same word.

The extra height is what puts them behind a sofa. Most sofa backs land somewhere between 75cm and 85cm, so at 82.5cm these sit level with the back or just above it, and a lamp on top ends up at reading height for whoever is on the couch. A 76cm console behind the same sofa disappears below the cushion line.

The drawers change the daily use rather than the look. Three shallow drawers on the Byron and two on the Richmond, with a shelf below both, turn the piece into the place where keys, sunglasses, dog leads and unopened mail live. Shorter and deeper in function, longer and emptier in the other two: pick by which problem the hallway actually has. The black Richmond matches the black dining pieces.

A Side Table Is Built for Someone Sitting Down

Every side table in the range is 55cm wide. The Byron Acacia End Table is 55 x 55 x 55cm, the Oxford Acacia Side Table and the Liverpool Pine End Table - Natural are 55 x 55 x 58cm, and the Richmond Pine End Table - Natural is 55 x 50 x 55cm, the only one that is not square.

Fifty five to fifty eight centimetres is sofa arm height, and that is not a coincidence. Sitting down, your forearm rests somewhere around 55cm to 65cm off the floor, so a table in this band is one you reach without leaning, looking or thinking. Anything taller and you knock the cup with your elbow; anything shorter and you reach down past the cushion.

The footprint is the other half of it. At 55cm square, one of these takes about 0.3 square metres, roughly half the floor a chest of drawers needs and small enough to fit in the gap between a sofa arm and a wall that is otherwise wasted. The black Liverpool works the same way in a darker room.

Behind the Sofa, Under the Window, Beside the Bed

Three placements cover most of what people actually buy these for. Behind a sofa, the 82.5cm consoles win for the reason above, and the 38cm depth means the sofa only has to come 40cm off the wall to make room. In an open plan living area that line of furniture is what stops the couch looking like it is floating in the middle of the room.

Under a window, height is the constraint rather than the choice. Measure to the underside of the sill: a 76cm console fits under most and a 82.5cm one often does not, and a console that fouls a sill by 3cm cannot be fixed with cushions or a rug. This is the placement where people order the wrong one.

Beside a bed, a side table is a genuine option and the maths is close. Mattress tops usually finish between 55cm and 65cm off the floor, so a 58cm table sits at or just below the mattress, which works for a glass of water and a book. In a spare room where one bedside table has to double as an occasional table for guests, it is the more useful buy of the two.

The Australian Hallway Problem

Entry halls in most Australian homes are about a metre wide, and in a 1960s brick veneer or a narrow terrace they are often less. That is the room a console table is sold for, and it is the room where the wrong depth turns a nice piece of furniture into an obstacle you resent every time you carry the washing basket through.

Do the subtraction before you buy. A metre of hallway minus a 38cm console leaves 62cm of clear passage, which is comfortable for one person and awkward for two. Minus a 45cm sideboard it leaves 55cm, which is where you start turning sideways. That 7cm is why consoles are built at the depth they are.

If the hallway is genuinely too narrow, the honest answer is to move the piece rather than shrink it. A console works just as well on the living room wall behind the sofa or on the landing at the top of the stairs, and a side table takes the entry job at a fraction of the footprint. A 55cm square by the front door still holds keys.

Buying the Pair Rather Than the Piece

Most homes end up needing both, and the ranges are built so they can be bought together. Liverpool, Byron, Richmond and Oxford each make a console and a side table in the same finish, so the entry piece and the lounge piece can be visibly related without being identical.

They do not have to match, and there is a reasonable argument for not matching. The console lives in a hall the sofa cannot see, so a black console at the front door and a natural side table by the couch is two decisions rather than one compromise. What should match is the timber tone of the pieces that share a sight line.

Whatever you choose, buy on the height first. Nobody has ever regretted a table because it was 10cm too short in length, and everybody notices one that is 20cm wrong in height, every single day, because their arm is in the wrong place. Between the console range and the side tables, the numbers do most of the deciding.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a console table and a side table?

Height, and everything follows from it. A console table stands at 76cm to 82.5cm and is used by somebody on their feet. A side table stands at 55cm to 58cm and is used by somebody sitting down. They are not two sizes of the same thing.

How deep should a console table be?

Between 36cm and 38cm on these, which is deliberately narrow. That is not enough depth to eat at or work at comfortably, and it is exactly enough to hold keys, a lamp, a tray and a vase while still letting two people pass in a hallway.

Can a console table go behind a sofa?

Yes, and the height decides how it looks. Most sofa backs land between 75cm and 85cm, so the 82.5cm Byron and Richmond consoles sit level with or just above the back, while the 76cm Liverpool and Oxford tuck a little below it.

Can a side table be used as a bedside table?

It can, if the height suits your bed. These are 55cm to 58cm, and most mattress tops land between 55cm and 65cm, so a side table sits at or slightly below the mattress. That is fine for a glass of water and less good for a tall lamp.

What size side table suits a small living room?

All of them are the same footprint, which makes this easy. Every side table in the range is 55cm wide, and the deepest is 55cm, so any of them takes about 0.3 square metres of floor. Choose on shelf and finish rather than on size.