BH | Studio Cuenca Ribbed Side Table

Cabinetmakers have long cut wood into ridges, as in the reeding that runs down the legs of Regency tables, because ridged wood catches light and shadow in a way a plain board cannot. Cuenca, high in central Spain, shows the same effect on a grand scale: its old town sits on cliffs of banded rock that take the sun in horizontal layers.

This is the square side table of the line: two ribbed supports, each built up from deep horizontal layers, joined by a thick top finished in a pale wood-grain veneer. The opening between the supports is wide enough to slide in a basket or a stack of magazines, and the top has room for a lamp, a book and a mug together. It is solidly made and rated to hold 300 lbs, more than enough for a heavy stone lamp or a pile of art books.

Use it as a nightstand in a small bedroom, as an end table beside a sofa or deep armchair, or as a drinks table between two chairs; it holds a lamp, a book or a sculptural piece. Two make a good pair at either end of a long sofa. The ribbed wood has the gentle look of sun-faded boards, lovely with linen in sand and white, a woven lampshade and a dried palm leaf.