BH | Studio Kastoria Pedestal Side Table

Kastoria, the lakeside town in northern Greece, is known for its old merchant mansions, whose rooms were lined with carved and painted woodwork. Across Europe in those same centuries, a small table on a single central stem was the piece drawn up beside a chair to hold a candle, a book or a cup of something warm, and the mid-twentieth century gave the form a smoother, more sculpted line.

This one is made from solid hardwood in a warm mid-brown, its grain left to show. A round top sits on a tapered stem that swells into a wide, flared foot, so the whole piece reads as one continuous curve, and the top is roomy enough for a table lamp, a book and a cup. Levelling feet with non-marking pads keep it steady on uneven floors, it is rated to hold 100 lbs, and a little assembly is required.

Place it by a wing chair in a study with a reading lamp and the evening's book, at the end of a sofa for a drink and a dish of nuts, or beside the desk in a home office. In an entryway or a lounge area it holds a small vase and a tray for keys, and it serves nicely as a nightstand. It sits as comfortably in a traditional room of chintz and mahogany as a modern one of linen and plaster.