What Is an Alternative to a Sofa Table?

Storage

• Place a bookcase, a chest of drawers or a dining room buffet along the back of a sofa to provide for much needed storage space in a small apartment or home. Another storage solution would be to place stack-able boxes in an interesting arrangement. These pieces should either be made of the same type of wood as other tables in the area, or you should paint and decorate them to match the surrounding decor. Placing a bookcase behind a sofa along a wall also provides "hidden storage" for seldom used items such as Christmas decorations, boxes of files or other unsightly clutter. Use it as a storage space for pillows and bed linens for a sleeper sofa.

Defining Living Spaces

• If your apartment is small or your home is “open concept,” it may be difficult to define the different areas of the room or to find space for all of the other necessary pieces of furniture when you have a sofa sitting in the middle of the room. Placing a narrow writing desk along the back of the sofa provides you with an instant office without the need to take up space along a wall. Place a small, or drop leaf, dining table along the back of the sofa when there is not enough space for a dining area in the room. These types of furniture pieces serve a much more functional purpose in such areas than a classic sofa table, which may only become a “clutter magnet” for magazines, bills and other items that have no other home in the small space.