A beige sofa is often chosen because it gives a living room room to evolve. It works with different materials, accommodates changing accessories and rarely demands a particular decorating style. Choosing the coffee table to sit in front of it, however, requires more thought than finding a complementary colour. A deep, generously upholstered sofa needs a different table from a slim, tailored design, even when both are beige. The shape of the seating, the amount of space around it and the way the room is used will have a greater influence on the result than matching one shade to another.