My Favorite Coffee Table Is Made for Kids
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It’s possible that the most versatile piece of furniture I own is a pill-shaped chunk of foam.
More specifically, it’s the Soft Coffee Table from House of Noa, a baby and kids’ brand that started out mostly making play mats but has since expanded into all sorts of products, including a line of “soft furniture” that launched earlier this year.
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Anyone who remembers the original Nugget craze that made “play couch” happen will recognize the smart business move: House of Noa’s collection contains a modular seat and armrests, a round ottoman that comes in two different sizes, an assortment of throw pillows, a personalizable play chair, and an elongated coffee table, all available in a vast range of stylish fabrics (earth-toned boucle! Subtle florals! Stripes!) that fit pretty seamlessly into adult spaces. Given that my two daughters have a pesky habit of treating whatever household “infrastructure” is within arm’s reach as a jungle gym, I jumped at the chance to try it.
It’s the coffee table that has surprised me as a standout. Since it entered my living room, it has not only been used as an actual coffee table but a bench seat, a karaoke stage, and the setting for all sorts of elaborate pretend scenarios cooked up by my kids. As a wrote in my last Strategist Brain, my living room is long and narrow, as well as a pass-through to two different rooms, so it doesn’t lend itself to a stationary coffee table. (The fact that the floor is usually covered in Magna-Tiles builds and Barbie setups does not help.) But the House of Noa coffee table works well because it’s also long and narrow, about four feet long by a foot and a half wide, and has enough surface area to feel substantial but isn’t so hefty that it overwhelms the space. It’s also easy to move and quick to transition from the counter of a kid-run coffee shop that’s only open on the weekends — one of my girls’ most creative recent uses for it — to a post-bedtime spot for the TV remote plus a couple beers on a tray.
In the six months I’ve had it, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the quality of the fabric cover, which is removable and machine washable, as well as the durability and feel of the foam: It’s sturdy and dense enough to provide extra seating for adults, and we occasionally push the coffee table under a window to use as a bench. I also appreciate that House of Noa sells waterproof liners for the “big” items in the soft furniture line — they go over the foam but under the cover to protect the foam in case of spills or other accidents — and I appreciate even more that the coffee table includes these liners right for no extra charge.
And while I do wish I’d had this thing when my oldest was a toddler and we relegated a more sharp-cornered coffee table to storage, you don’t actually need kids to buy one. It’s so nice-looking, affordable, and adaptable that you’d never know it’s technically for kids.
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