It works well as a normal coffee table, cocktail table, center table for a living room and it can be turned into a dining table when the tabletop is raised. The lift top is perfect for your laptop too while sitting on the sofa and typing away emails. The tabletop rises up forward allowing it to work well as a dining table in your living room. Hidden compartment hides and stores what you don't want easily seen or tampered with by guests. The open bottom shelf provides ample storage space for reading material or other things you don't want on the top for when you are sitting down for a meal while watching your favorite TV show.