In 1957 Eero Saarinen finished the Pedestal table and Tulip chair collections for Knoll, built on a stubborn idea: the "slum of legs" under ordinary tables and chairs was an ugly, restless mess, and one central stem could clear it. Knoll still sells a low Saarinen coffee table with a marble top on a single cast-aluminum pedestal. That is the family tree of the modern marble coffee table, and it is why a round slab on a quiet base still looks right in a living room almost seventy years later.

Marble itself is old news and still the best surface in the room. Carrara has been quarried since Roman times, and more stone has come out of the hills around it than from anywhere else. Calacatta is the rarer Carrara-area cousin, and it is usually the one that gets a second look. Nero Marquina, from the Basque Country, gets its black from naturally occurring bitumen. When I shop for a marble coffee table I start by choosing the stone, then the shape, then the base.

Round tables are the easy place to begin, so that is where this edit starts. The Santoro from CB2 pairs a polished black marble top with angled acacia legs, and at 37 inches it suits a small sofa. The Pasar comes in forest green marble and in black marble with white veining, both 42 inches on a slab marble base, and both read as sculpture. The Tule has four wide walnut legs and a 47 inch black top. For softer rooms, the Edgeworth in Carrara with an open oak shelf, and the Homage, with its bull-nose edge on three white oak legs, feel warmer.

Before you choose, measure the gap between sofa and table. Leave enough room to walk through, and let the round shape do the rest.

Long tables ask more of a room, so sit on the sofa first and look at the table's length against the cushions. The Almera from CB2 runs 66 inches in honed Statuario marble on two rounded marble pedestals, and the thin top keeps it from feeling heavy. The Romano is built from solid marble sheets, slim and low at 61 inches, which suits a modern sectional.

The Paramount is my pick for a quiet room: gray and white Volakas marble, quarried in Greece, with chunky block legs. If you want curves, the Liguria is the one. It is an oval by Gianfranco Frattini, 51 inches, with the top resting on two cylindrical marble columns, in white or in black. Placed on a pale rug the black one looks like a drawn line.

West Elm covers the warmer, wood-framed end. The Nary is a 48 inch oval in a walnut-finish frame with a lower shelf for books. The Lorraine is smaller, 36 inches on three rounded walnut legs, and the Alora sits on two solid wood columns.

Test the finish on your hand: honed stone feels soft and matte, polished feels cool and glassy. Pick whichever one you like to touch.

What I would skip: a very long marble top in a narrow room, where you will turn sideways every time you pass.

Weight is the point with this group. These tables look like architecture, and they ask you to treat the rest of the room lightly. The Enyo from CB2 is a low 55 inch slab on short feet in a post-and-lintel shape, in black marble with prominent veining or in Torrento gray, which has a pinkish cast. Put either one in front of a linen sofa and let it be the heaviest thing there.

The Jayda from Crate & Barrel is a 65 inch brown marble top on a solid dark pedestal, and it is the table I would pick for a long, low room. The Selano from West Elm is a solid block of pink-veined marble on a plinth, 36 inches. It is a statement, so keep the books on it to a minimum.

Drums bring wood into it. The Troupe comes two ways: a ribbed oak drum under a 56 inch round slab, or a 36 inch pine drum with a birds-beak joint. The Ellington has a fluted natural wood base, and the hammered brass pedestal table from West Elm is the one with a little shine.

Ask how the slab sits on the base, and give the table a gentle push in person. A solid block should not shift.

What I would skip: pink-veined or brown stone in a room that is already warm; the colors will fight.

Paul McCobb drew the Irwin in 1952, and CB2 still makes it in two versions: a 72 inch with a natural oak drawer and thin brass frame, and a 79 inch with crossed brass stretchers. Both have a white marble top, and both have the slim, mid-century look that works under a low sofa. The drawer on the oak one is useful for remotes.

If you want a different color, the Sergio is square, 44 inches, with a forest green marble top and shelf in an artisan-forged iron frame. The Kingsley, by Todd Snyder, is a 46 inch square in white marble on tapered cast metal. The Elysia, by Jeremiah Brent, sets a veined marble top into chunky wirebrushed oak legs, 45 inches, and feels more relaxed.

The Whelford is square with a molded umber oak frame and open shelf. The Reeve and the Parker, both from West Elm, put white marble on mid-century wood frames, the Parker in walnut at 58 inches.

Check the joint between top and frame, and look for a lower shelf if you read on the sofa and need somewhere to put a mug. Marble reacts to acid, so keep coasters on hand. Blot spills, do not wipe them.

What I would skip: a thin brass frame in a house with small children, where it will take a beating.

Care is where marble gets a bad name, so be honest about it. Marble is softer and more porous than granite, and its calcium carbonate reacts to acid, which means stains and etching. Wine and lemon are the classic troublemakers. Use coasters, and blot a spill instead of wiping it.

With that said, small tables are where I would take a color risk. The Zion comes in merlot marble in two forms: a set of two organically shaped nesting tables on pillar legs, and a 36 inch single with tripod pillar legs. Merlot is a bold color for a coffee table, and I would set it against cream walls. The Yuma, by Goncalo Campos, is a green marble oval, 42 inches, on a delicately arched steel frame, and it can go indoors or out.

Nesting sets let the table change shape. The Dexter has two kidney-shaped cappuccino marble tops on brown oak, the Zaccai is pebble shaped, and the Elwell is a pair of round tops on slim metal at 24 and 32 inches. The Dev, with a taupe marble top over a hammered gray metal half-sphere, is a lovely 35 inch oddity.

Before you buy a set, pull the tables apart and push them back together a few times. They should slide without scraping.

Measure the room, then pick the shape: round for tight spaces, oval or a long rectangle for a big sofa, nesting tables when the room does double duty. After that, choose the stone you can live with, and ask yourself honestly how careful you will be with glasses.

Buy it with the coasters, and blot spills the moment they happen. Then put it near a window and let it catch the light.

Saarinen wanted to clear the clutter of legs from under the table. So would I, and my marble coffee table of choice is the one with the fewest legs. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Do Faux Marble Tables Stain and Taffeta Pants.