BH | Studio Arendal 42-Inch Oval Gloss Coffee Table

The low table in front of the sofa is a twentieth-century habit, spreading through American living rooms in the 1920s and 1930s, as tea, cocktails and the evening paper found a place by the sofa. In the 1950s modern designers lifted it onto a single flared stem beneath an oval top, so knees and feet have room all the way round, and the uncluttered rooms of Scandinavian modern design, Norway's among them, soon made it a fixture.

The shorter of the ovals, this table has a glossy white engineered wood top with a bevelled rim, on a matching white lacquered stem that tapers and flares to a round foot, its finish made to resist chips. At 42 inches long it fits in front of a loveseat or a compact sofa, and the curved ends are kind to a narrow room. All white, it looks light enough to lift, and felt protects the floor. Assembly is required.

A smaller sitting room or an apartment still needs a table for the morning coffee and for evenings with a couple of friends, and this one manages both. It keeps a small space bright. Pair it with a dove grey loveseat, a pale wool rug and a pair of slipper chairs, with a glass vase of white ranunculus and a candle on top.