BH | Studio Ilkley Round Coffee Table

Rattan came into Western homes in the Victorian era, when cane and wicker furniture filled verandas, sunrooms and seaside hotels. It was light enough to move with the seasons and hard-wearing enough for family life, and it has never really left the house since.

The whole table is woven from natural rattan, top and base alike. The broad round top is thick and softly rounded at the rim, wide enough to hold a serving board of cheese and crackers, a round of drinks and a few favourite books at once. Beneath it, three plump woven columns meet in a rounded triangle, a sculptural base with far more character than a single post. Non-marking caps on the feet keep it kind to floors, and it comes fully assembled, so it is ready the moment it is unpacked. Because rattan is a natural cane, the colour and the weave vary a little from one table to the next, which gives each one its own character.

It is made for the living room, the sunroom and any easy indoor lounge: in front of a linen sofa with a jug of garden flowers, a stack of magazines and a tray of iced tea. On a covered porch, out of the rain, it brings the same relaxed feel to summer evenings. The warm honey tone suits white walls, striped cushions, terracotta pots and pale floorboards, the look of a beach house or a garden room in an old farmhouse.