2 min readSince its founding in 1975, Zara has basically become synonymous with affordable, trend-conscious clothes, accessories, and, yes, décor. Because, in case you haven’t gotten the memo, the retailer’s home section is packed with everything from tabletop essentials to bedding to furniture. At House Beautiful, we firmly believe you don’t need to spend a lot of money to have a stylish home, so you better believe we’re compulsively checking out Zara Home’s inventory.
But we’ll be completely honest with you: When we caught wind that Zara’s low-slung coffee table had sold out, we were left totally befuddled. Is it living in our heads rent-free? Totally. Because, if we can be even more honest, it looks like something you’d find at a home improvement store.
The Low Table Sofa 02 comprises two thin, square plywood slabs, replete with an oak shell. The slightly smaller slab acts as the base, while the larger one is where you can put beverages, art books, or a vase full of flowers. And…that’s it. That’s the table. No legs. Nothing else. Just two slabs of wood.
Look, we have a lot of love for minimalist and Japandi interiors, but this table feels like something even a DIY novice can put together.
Another thing: It’s so low. Sure, low-slung furniture can imbue a sleek, slightly old-school sensibility, but this option basically sits on the floor. According to Zara’s website, the brand designed this coffee table to be a natural extension of its modular sofa, but what if you don’t have the modular sofa? A coffee table should be easy to grab things from your couch or armchair, and what seating is this low? You’d have to be sitting criss-cross applesauce to be able to easily (and comfortably!) grab something from this coffee table. It doesn’t matter if you’re shopping at a big-box retailer or have an unlimited budget; most low-slung tables have a little more height than this one.
The design is enough of a head-scratcher, but at $1,500, the price point is preposterous. Two slabs of plywood for four digits? Seriously? We’d ask who would buy this Zara coffee table, but apparently so many people did that it sold out entirely.
We don’t get the design—and we certainly don’t get the absorbently high price—but we’re also not here to yuck anyone’s yum. There are surely people who have found a way to elegantly incorporate this into their space. (If that’s you, please send photos. We’re dying to see.) Because at the end of the day, great design is creating a place that reflects your point of view. And if there’s a little bit of controversy in the process? So be it.
