BH | Studio Arendal 48-Inch Oval 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 oval top is engineered wood faced in a warm, mid-brown wood-grain veneer with a bevelled edge, its grain running the long way. It sits on a white lacquered stem that narrows and flares into a round foot, finished to resist chipping, so the warm wood seems to hover above the floor. The 48-inch length suits a full-size sofa, the curved ends are easy to walk around, and felt protects the boards beneath. It requires assembly.

Morning coffee, tea when friends drop in, the board game that runs all afternoon: this is the table everyone gathers at. Mid-brown wood over white has a relaxed, mid-century ease. Pair it with a cream bouclé sofa, a moss or olive cushion or two, a woven jute rug and a ceramic lamp, with a record player in the corner.