BH | Studio Uppingham Stepped Console Table

Stepped profiles, edges built up in a series of receding bands, were one of the signatures of Art Deco, borrowed from the setbacks of the skyscrapers rising over late 1920s New York. In 1930s England the same device shaped cinema fronts, wireless cabinets and bedroom suites, bringing a little architectural presence to ordinary rooms, and it still draws the eye along a plain shape.

This one is a single sweeping band: the top and two broad side panels flow into one another without a break, and a run of nested grooves steps inward along the inner edge. It is long but shallow, so it stands against a hall wall and still leaves the way through clear, and its top sits at roughly kitchen-counter level, a comfortable height for dropping a bag or sorting mail standing up. The open floor between the side panels takes a bench slid right under, and the top is rated to hold 110 lbs. Some assembly is required. The finish comes in Chestnut, a warm mid-brown with a visible straight grain, or in Oyster or Jet.

Set it in an entrance hall with a round mirror above, a lamp at one end and a bowl for keys, and push a low upholstered bench beneath for pulling on boots. Behind a sofa that floats in an open-plan room it gives the back of the seating a finished edge and a place for a lamp and a few books. It looks best with cream or putty walls, old brass, a kilim runner and a pot of ferns.