A coffee table that you purchase for a family home needs to able to act as a functional piece of furniture as well as stand up to the rigors of family life.
This means that you will probably want to find a table that can have drinks spilt on it, feet put up on it, toddlers standing on it and games played on it.
This will be the focal point of the room where your family spends a lot of time together so you want to get this right.
If you are particularly concerned about having a hard wearing table then you will probably want to look more towards a wooden coffee table.
Not only are these types of table very hard wearing but they are pleasing to the eye as well.
This means that you will have something that will last but also something that looks great.
Be aware that many apparently wooden coffee tables could actually be made out of laminate.
This is usually the case with flat-pack furniture and means that the item you are looking at is most likely chipboard covered with a wood effect laminate.
Whilst these can be very hard wearing, they are not a patch on a well made wooden table made from something such as oak that will last you a very long time.
Solid wooden furniture doesn't need to be prohibitively expensive and in fact it is probably worth spending a little more, knowing that you have something that will last you a lot longer than a cheaper alternative.