BH | Studio Wymondham 36-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 has a square white top, engineered wood under a smooth coating that wipes clean of spills, set on a black tapered column with a polished brass-tone collar and a broad round foot. A ring beneath the foot protects the floor. Because the weight rests on one central column, each of the four sides is free for a chair, with no legs in the way of knees. Assembly is required.

A square table seats four neatly, one to a side, so it is a natural fit for a breakfast room, a kitchen corner or a city apartment dining area. Push it against a banquette, or set it by a window for coffee and the morning news. White, black and gold suit a bright, modern room: pair with bentwood or upholstered chairs, a striped rug, a pendant in brass and a jug of white tulips.