Nesting tables for outdoor accents

As I complete my front porch overhaul (see previous post: Painting the Porch: Also Known As "Stimulating the Local Economy"), I am attempting to picture just how I want the finished product to look.  Sure, I've got some more scraping and a bit of painting left to do, but then I can put some thought into staging the porch to maximize seating and create a homey feel that will make me want to brave the heat to sit outside instead of inside where it is nice and cool.  One thing I've been considering is nesting tables. 

Slate nesting tables

I found these awesome looking ones and thought that something like that could be handy since I don't have room for a big table, yet sometimes need the extra space that one affords.  What do you think?  Slate is a material that looks good in or out, but especially would hold up to being outside on my front porch.  I also think it would be easy to clean, something that would also need to be a must for me since our front porch gets a lot of pollen and dust.

I like the rustic look and I would love to keep some plants on my porch too.  I don't have anywhere convenient to keep them in the house that would provide adequate sunshine.  I also don't want to keep plants in the house that aren't cat friendly.  We had a fig tree inside last year and I found out later the leaves would have been toxic to my cats.  Fortunately, one of our cats must have sensed this since he began using the potted plant as his personal litter box, which, ironically, was toxic to the tree.   We were very sad to lose the fig tree, but grateful that the tree is more easily replaced than a beloved pet.

We actually don't own a coffee table right now.  We used to have a large coffee table with matching end tables, but they were wood and tempered glass.  I could never keep the glass clean with sticky fingered kids and I was concerned for their safety.  I listed them for sale in the swap sheet and sold them right away.  I really didn't miss them until I didn't have anywhere to put my soda!  I also didn't want to buy just anything.  My tastes have changed as I've gotten older and I have a particular affinity for darker wood.  The ones we sold were a very light oak color.

Jofran 280 Series Wood Lift-Top Coffee Table in Merlot

Last year, we did finally buy end tables, some triangle wedges that nest, but roll out.  They still have some glass, but to a lesser extent.   I really meant to buy some matching lamps to place on top of them, but I haven't gotten any yet.  I guess you could say I'm uber picky when it comes to furnishings.

One unfortunate aspect of their open design is that they get cluttered up with things quickly... and it shows.  Right now, the one next to me has a bunch of magazines, some romance novels, and coupons cluttering up the top and second shelf.   I really think if we buy another coffee table, we should get something like this one that pops up and gives you storage space for your clutter, like this Jofran coffee table. 

Still, it has an open design at the bottom, but yet the top pops up to give storage space for magazines, books, and perhaps even my coupon clutter!  I wonder if it would pop high enough for me to use it as a laptop stand?

This blog post is brought to you by your friends at Cymax.   


The images used in this blog post are courtesy of coffeetables&endtables, a division of Cymax.