Console Tables – Make Sure To Check Out The Legs When Buying Yours

by: Jesse Akre

In any purchase there are a number of details to consider in the furniture item you are going to buy. This is definitely the case when it comes to console tables. When trying to decide on which ones to add to your home you are going to have to decide on the décor style, how many drawers you want, what kind and how many shelves you want, whether you want a cabinet covering for the bottom, and many other details. But one that few people really think of is the legs that will hold the console tables up.

Without good legs, console end up being a pile of wood on the floor. So, why not put a little more consideration into this part of the furniture?

There are a few overall shapes that table legs can come in:

Straight – These are just that. Straight pieces of wood from the area it attaches to the console tables, down to the ground. While they can have some accenting and designs in these consoles table’s legs, the main shape is straight and equal from the top to the bottom.

Tapered – From the top to the bottom these legs change their shape. Generally they start as thick pieces, attaching to the underside of the console tables and then slowly get smaller and smaller as they make their way to the floor. These too can be created with accenting and design, but they must be thicker at one end and progress to a thinner tip.

Cabriole – A little fancier of a look comes to console tables with cabriole legs. These legs don't just do the job of going from the table to the ground. They curve out a little it to show off along the way.

Additionally, these legs can also see extra dressy accents to really make them special.

In addition to general leg styles, there are a number of kinds of more specific table legs that are meant to fit tables of exact time periods or décor:

Turned – Turned legs are those where the piece of has been put in a lathe, a machine that turns the wood at a high rate of speed, and then carved down to create the final shape. The indentations and markings in the wood are the same all the way around with turned legs

Queen Anne – Console tables with Queen Anne legs have cabriole legs with a little extra flair. The 'knee' of the cabriole leg curves up a little more than regular cabriole legs and many historical Queen Anne furniture pieces showed a spoon foot at the bottom of the leg, which can be found in this design.

Claw foot – Looking for a lot of flair in the legs on your console tables. You can have that with claw foot table legs. These legs literally have a bottom that looks like a clawed foot. Many look like a talon holding a ball or a lion foot coming out from the bottom of the console tables.

Once you know what kind of legs to get for your console tables, you are all set to make your purchase.