London Coffee Table: the U-shaped base and the floor it stands on

The London Coffee Table is listed with a U-shaped pedestal base in chrome framing, under a top you choose in marble or ceramic, at 120 x 60 x 45cm. The size matches several tables we supply, so the base is the point of difference, and a U-shaped pedestal asks something particular of the floor.

What a U-shaped base means in practice

• Contact with the floor. A pedestal meets the floor along its base rather than at four points, though the listing gives no size for that contact area and does not say what the underside is finished with. On wood or tile, ask us before it is slid into place, and lift rather than drag it.
• Open ends. The open side of a U leaves a gap rather than a leg, so there is a chance a low basket or a slim footstool goes in from that direction. The listing gives no height or width for that opening, so measure what you want to tuck under and ask us for the figures before you order.
• Rugs. A pedestal is less tolerant of a rug edge running under part of it than four legs are. If the table is going on a rug, put the whole thing on, with a margin: a rug of at least 160 x 230cm suits a 120 x 60cm table.
• The ends of the top. The listing does not say how far along the length the base reaches, so if children in your house use the corner of a table as a handhold, look at the photographs or ask us how much of the top the base sits under.

The figures, as listed

Read as length, depth and height, 120cm suits a sofa of roughly 180cm to 240cm and 45cm sits about level with a typical seat cushion. Leave around 40cm of clear floor in front of the sofa for feet and passing traffic. The listing does not label the figures, so ask us to confirm them if your gap is tight.

Choosing the top, and what is not stated

The two surfaces are named and nothing more. There is no word on whether the marble is natural stone or a marble-effect finish, no colour, no veining, no thickness and no cleaning advice, and the product page has no surface selector, so the top is to be confirmed with us when you order. Ask which surfaces are currently supplied and, if it is stone, what the supplier says about sealing it. We will check rather than guess.

No weight is given either. Both surfaces are heavy, so measure the doorways and any stair turn on the route in, have somebody with you when it arrives, and look at the top edges before the packaging goes out.

The alternatives worth a look

For four legs in the same chrome, the Lewis Coffee Table is listed at the same size. For a frame with a circular leg at each end and a bar between them, see the Chelsea Coffee Table, and if a warmer metal suits the room, check the SG-London Coffee Table listing for its own size and finish. Everything is in Coffee Tables.

Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. The London Coffee Table page carries the photographs of both surfaces and the order form.