BH | Studio Skanör 2-Drawer Console Table

The console table takes its name from the French console, the carved bracket that once held a narrow table to the wall of an eighteenth-century hall, a fashion Sweden took up wholeheartedly in its French-inspired Gustavian rooms. The brackets have long since gone, but the job is the same: a slim surface by the door where the household's comings and goings collect.

This one has two wide drawers across the top, each faced in pale woven rattan with a small metal knob, running on full-extension glides so they pull right out and you can reach the back. Below, an open shelf sits low between four slim, straight legs on non-marking feet. The case is engineered wood with a wood-grain laminate in Jet or Almond, and the top and the shelf are each rated to hold 132 lbs. In Jet the cane glows by contrast and looks crisp against a light wall; in Almond the look is warmer and softer.

Stand it in an entryway with a round mirror above, a bowl for keys and the mail tucked in a drawer, or use it in a living room as a slim media console under a wall-hung television, remotes in the drawers and magazines on the shelf. It suits a hallway or a small reception area too, and doubles as a compact desk. Either finish looks good beside a white wall, a ceramic gourd lamp and a tall vase of branches.