BH | Studio Malton Extending Dining Table

The long kitchen table has been the working heart of the farmhouse for as long as there have been farmhouses, and in the farm kitchens of the English north it was where bread was kneaded, accounts were done and everyone ate together. Scandinavian makers of the mid-twentieth century kept that plain, sturdy idea and softened it, rounding the corners and letting the grain of the wood do the decorating.

This rectangular table has a thick top with softly rounded corners, set on four sturdy solid hardwood legs. The top is a wood veneer finished in Honey, a warm golden tone, or in Jet. A removable leaf stores beneath the top; draw the table open on its hidden rails and runners, set the leaf in place, and the table grows long enough for a crowd while keeping its clean shape. It is rated to hold 396 lbs. Assembly is required.

Keep it closed for everyday meals in a kitchen dining room, then open it for Thanksgiving, birthdays and long Sunday lunches with every chair in the house pulled up. On a weekday it works just as well as a big shared desk, a home office meeting table or a place to spread out a jigsaw. Either finish with cream linen, a row of mismatched candlesticks and woven-seat chairs makes a dining room feel like a farmhouse in Denmark or Vermont.