BH | Studio Wymondham 28-Inch Square Pedestal Dining Table

Setting a dining table on one central column instead of four corner legs became a defining idea of mid-century design in the 1950s, freeing the space beneath so that chairs and knees could go anywhere around the edge. Its roots run back to the cast-iron pedestal tables of nineteenth-century Parisian cafés and English pubs, which packed small tops close together on a single stem.

This one is small and square, with a white top of engineered wood under a smooth, wipe-clean coating, on a slim black column that tapers to a polished brass-tone collar and a wide disc foot. A protective ring under the foot keeps it gentle on floors. The single pedestal leaves the corners open, so two chairs tuck in easily and the table slides into a tight spot. Assembly is required.

Its compact size makes it a bistro table for two in a kitchen corner, a breakfast table on a sunporch or a café-style perch in a studio apartment. It also works as a small games table or a lamp table in a large living room. Style it like a Paris café: two cane bistro chairs, a carafe of water, a croissant on a white plate and a single bloom in a bud vase.