Hi, I'm trying to decide on coffee & end table materials as well. I'm thinking about maybe one end-table in glass, don't want everything to match and too much glass to me provides a "cold" look. Besides wood/glass, I'm considering stone or composite tops with metal base. Saw a nice one (floor model on sale) at Domain two weekends ago (no one there said anything about Chapter 11), it looked a lot like limestone, but was actually a stone composite. The sales person mentioned that it was easily stained & the iron base was a bit too ornate for us anyway, but it gave us the idea to have something custom made, using limestone or a more practical composite that looks like limestone along with a simpler base--will be doing some research this weekend to see if there's a custom shop that makes them. I'm also planning on taking a look at the "natural steel" tables that Room & Board offers. If you go on-line to their web site, you'll see a number of base table styles with choices on table tops, natural stone, composite stone, glass, etc. Prices seem pretty reasonable, not sure yet about quality and how it actually looks "in person". Lastly, re: wood, one furniture brand for wood tables that I'll be taking a closer look at is Harden, I believe that their products are all solid wood so they can be refinished down the line. Nice style choices with this manufacturer too. Maybe someone else on the board can speak better than I as to the quality. Michelle

Look at craigslist first to see how these glass top tables look after a few years and for some price checks.

Even our ReStore, which has up-to-date items like every color cultured marble vanity known to man, has lots of glass shelves hanging around. The caveat is whether or not they're tempered which is probably not worth the risk unless they're actually marked or something. Also, check out Ikea. The Rationell Glass Shelf is tempered and comes in several sizes and is $16 per two-pack for the 24x12 cab size. The actual shelf dimension for this size cab are listed as Width: 22 3/8 " Depth: 11 1/2 " Thickness: 1/4 ". Miraculously, you can even buy these online and have them shipped to you! Now, the unbreakable little stainless steel jars that I want for my bathroom? Nah, *those* they don't ship... Anyway, perhaps standard/European sizes are not good options for your custom furniture though. good luck!

The website Custommade has a group of artisans who make furnture and take orders for custom work. You can search by type, location, cost and other features. You might look there.