Many a basement in America has some form of table that would be suitable to this project. Old wooden pieces whose legs are still sturdy, but whose tops have seen better days can be transformed with a router, tiles, mortar, grout and a little patience. Simply rout out the tabletop to a depth that would accommodate the thickness of the tile, add a mastic or mortar to hold selected tiles in place, and grout around the inserted tiles. Try creating a pattern with custom-made tiles that represent each family member's place at the table.
Taking about as much wear and tear as a typical kitchen table, is the wooden coffee table. However, adding tile following the method listed above, can once again make your table a safe place to put down a cup of coffee. Existing coffee tables can, of course, be rescued using this model, but unfinished wooden tables can also be purchased at any unfinished furniture store and put to this use. Coffee tables are also a stable of neighborhood garage and yard sales, and can usually be bought and tiled for a mere fraction of what it would cost to buy a tiled table in a retail setting.
The bedside table is a common place to put glasses of water. Unfortunately, this also means that bedside tables get a fair amount of liquid spilled on them. In past generations, the solution for such an issue was to clad the horizontal surface of the piece in marble or another hard, decorative stone. Tile can as easily be applied to fulfill a similar purpose of adding durability and beauty at the same time.