Why woudnt it be "devant de la table"?

Bonjour Monica,

Good question. "Devant de la table" is a very literal translation of "in front of the table," and French just doesn't work that way. Devant means "in front of" - the idea of "of" is part of it, so it must be followed immediately by la table. This is also the case for its antonym: derrière la table.