BH | Studio Arendal 48-Inch Round Dining Table

The round table on a single central pillar has a long history, from the breakfast rooms of Regency England to the pale, uncluttered dining rooms of mid-century Norway and its Scandinavian neighbours, where a clear floor and a circle of chairs suit long evenings at home. With no corner legs to catch a chair or a knee, it can stand in the middle of a room, and the idea has never really gone out of use.

Four sit easily round this top, a round of engineered wood in White high-gloss lacquer or Blonde with a bevelled edge, cut back at an angle underneath so it looks lighter than its size. A tapered metal pedestal in White, Jet or Brass, in a chip-resisting finish, stands at its centre and spreads into a broad foot, so every chair has the same clear approach. A felt pad under the foot protects the floor.

This is a kitchen table in the old sense: the place for the first coffee, the shopping list and a plate of toast before school. Set it in a sunny kitchen with gingham café curtains and a dresser of blue-and-white china, and the pale top makes the whole room feel brighter. In the evening, lay it for a supper of four with a jar of sweet peas and a candle, and it becomes a small dining room of its own.