I like the round. Living Rooms tend to have a lot of rectangles in them already: room shape, sofa, chairs, area rugs, in your case, the mirror. So I think the round ones take the edge off things! (No pun intended!)

I like the round, esp the way your furniture is arranged, it fits better with the angled chairs. The square looks awkward to me, like I want to straighten it, but it's already straight!

Sorry I don't know a thing about gel stain, but it seems that trying to replace the glass with wood might be more problematic. The wood would be hard to match, as would the factory finish on a new piece. Could you maybe have marble cut (not sure if you can inlay it or if it would have to cover the whole top of the table).

Not sure if you would like this (if you used a dark color close to the color of the stain), but it might be worth a try.

She painted the underside of the glass.

ETA: I forgot to say how beautiful that coffee table is!

Here is a link that might be useful: Painted glass

This post was edited by olychick on Sun, Feb 2, 14 at 3:14

I agree with most - the round balances out the square edges of the couch and chairs. If you were to put a coffee table, I think a rectangle would be nice - but I like what you've done!

Square and round. Your room is very heavy. You need the openness of the glass to keep your room from feeling like it is all going to fall to one end.

I would do both round. Maybe I am just a lover of a round end table in living spaces, I guess because typically everything is so square and straight lined that I think the round softens the room. I know this is not always the case, but I definitely prefer the round in your space.

I am not 100% sure you could gel stain them. Are they solid wood? If so, you can sand and then gel stain. Painting them would be an easier fix and adding a wood top shouldn't be a problem at all.

Love your room and that coffee table is gorgeous!

My seating area is like your's except mine floats. I have round end tables on both sides of the sofa. I hate them. lol.

Only because they're just not big enough to hold the stuff I want. The tables are a normal size. Big enough for a lamp in the middle (lamps look funny if not in the middle of a round table), a drink and a few tiny things. Anything else I put there like my books and iPad just clutters it.

Both tables have lower shelves where I put baskets of mags I haven't read yet which is nice to have.

A large part of me wishes I went square or rectangle...or a bigger round top.

So that's the cons of a round table! :)

Can you call to see if Homesense has another in a different location? They could probably ship it to your closest store. Then return the lighter one. I'm not familiar with Homesense- I'm just guessing it's like a Homegoods store like we have in our area.

Thanks for your feedback. I like the round too (both round) , so I guess I'll just have to figure out whether to paint or stain and whether I can live with the glass top.

I did call the store to see if they had another dark one and they told me they don't track their inventory in terms of style, etc. I did go back to the source every few days for the last few months and no luck, so I think I will just have to figure out how to make these match.

I also tried sourcing these round tables elswhere and no luck. Seems oval is "in" these days, was really hard to find round tables (I'm in Canada).

So the fun continues...!

Another vote for round.

Send the oval style to the US. I have been looking for months for an oval coffee table (black) that would look good in my living room. Only ones, I have found are around 48 inches long, and I need longer than that with my sofa.

I like the round end tables in your room too.

Round with the glass. That will compliment your coffee table without matching.

Re staining - I would consider gel-staining the same colour as the feet of your couches. Just a thought.

I love the round. Even with the glass top.

I like the round table with the glass in it.

Another vote for round. i think it should be possible to gel stain them if you go dark. Since it's almost like paint, there shouldn't be any color difference after the second or third coat.
I've been looking for tables like these for my LV.

Minimum 30" diameter round side tables with ceramic lamps on top. The silver lamps appear to be more bedroom scale than living room scale.

The coffee table is lovely but the shag carpet may gobble it up, .

Round.

Because your side chairs are not set at a right angle, round is more accessible to folks seated at couch and chairs. Also round doesn't introduce the off kilter (not parallel) lines that olychick wants to straighten...

OK, after reading beverly's post, I removed the rug. And after removing that large, dark rectangular rug, it was actually a tie between the round and the square side table. And I placed a roundish lamp on the square table, and it really softened things up.

I am going to go to the paint store and see what the folks there have to say about gel staining a factory finished round end table. But I have to tell you, 'm leaning towards the square because in real life it looks more classic and like a higher end table than the round...wow, this project is never-ending!!

Thanks so much for your help, much appreciated and will post an update.

I would go with both round and square but I would not make them both wood. Or, another alternative is to place a floor lamp on the left, a round table on the right and raise the mirror a bit more. I think you need to introduce some more height to the room. Your eyes tend to go down.

Late to the party - voting for round!