Why is a good hall table SO hard to find?

I am a thrift shop and garage sale lover, and always had the best of luck when it came to finding nearly anything. When I was looking for an oversized wooden fork and spoon set, found it on the first trip. Trying to find an old tole chandelier? Scored. Old blue onion Corelle dishes? Yep, I own the full set now. But just recently I have been looking for an entry table, something relatively small in depth but fairly wide. Not too wide though, they can't interfere with our lovely bi-fold closet doors, circa 1978 (if I only had the nerve to take a hammer to those). I did find one vintage table that would've been perfect, but someone decided to paint a lovely beach scene on the top and a delightful faux sand finish over the whole table...not something I wanted to spend the next 10 years scrapping and sanding off!

Then yesterday I came upon this table:

I go back and forth between loving it and looking at it like an old television cabinet or submarine hole. I just don't get what that hole is for? I put some of my old books in there and I think it looks nice, but I am still not sold. Maybe someone out there can give me some tips on what to do with this!? I am either going to paint it white and distress it or sell it on Craigslist.