The Milan range: black ceramic tables, gold-legged chairs

Milan is the range to look at if your dining space is tight, or if you actively want a two-tone room rather than a matched set. The tables are ceramic-topped on black legs; the chair and stool stand on gold. That is not a mistake on our part and it is worth being plain about it — Milan is not a single-finish range, and pairing the pieces is a deliberate decision about contrast. Here is what the range covers and how to use it.

What Milan covers, and in which finish

Milan arrives under three prefixes, and the prefix tells you the finish. BK-Milan pieces are described with four black legs in a cross-shaped pedestal and a ceramic top. G-Milan pieces are the seating, on gold legs. The pieces named simply Milan are the sofa and the storage.

Piece	Sizes in the listing	As described
BK-Milan Dining Table	1.5m, 1.8m	Ceramic top, black legs
BK-Milan Round Dining Table	1.1m, 1.3m diameter	Ceramic top, black legs
BK-Milan Coffee Table	120 x 60 x 45cm	Ceramic top, black legs
BK-Milan Lamp Table	50 x 50 x 55cm	Ceramic top, black legs
G-Milan Chair	64 x 56 x 86cm	Ribbed velvet back, gold legs
G-Milan Stool	49 x 55 x 97cm	Ribbed velvet, gold legs
Milan Compression Sofa	Four-seat, modular	See listing
Large and small sideboards	160 x 40 x 70cm, 110 x 40 x 70cm	Dimensions only
Milan Bookcase	110 x 33 x 155cm	Dimensions only
Milan Nest of 2 Tables	50 x 50 x 45cm and 40 x 40 x 40cm	Dimensions only

The last three rows are honest about a limitation: those listings give dimensions and nothing else, so we are not going to describe a finish we cannot see stated. If you are considering the sideboards, bookcase or nest of tables, ask us and we will confirm the finish before you order.

The compact round table

The 1.1m round table is the smallest of the round tables across these ranges, which is why Milan is worth a look for a flat or a kitchen-diner. A round table in a small room earns its place twice over: there are no corners to walk into, and there is no long edge to leave half-empty when only two of you are eating.

The sizes, and what each realistically holds, counting 64cm of table edge per G-Milan chair:

• 1.1m round — roughly 3.4m of edge, so four with room, five if you are pushed.
• 1.3m round — a little over four metres of edge, so six, with nobody sitting on a corner.
• 1.5m x 90cm — two chairs to a side uses 128cm of the 150, plus one at each end for six.
• 1.8m x 90cm — a comfortable six. Three to a side needs 192cm and will not go on 180cm.

The Milan dining tables are 75cm high, the usual dining height. Allow 90cm to 100cm between the table edge and the nearest wall or units so a chair can be pulled out and sat on properly — on the 1.1m round that means a clear circle of about three metres, which is the figure to measure before anything else.

Why the cross base helps in a small room

All four BK-Milan tables stand on a cross-shaped pedestal rather than four legs at the corners. The practical effect is that the corners and edges are clear, so chairs can be slid anywhere around the table instead of being positioned by where a leg falls. On a small round table that is the difference between four chairs and four comfortable chairs, and it is what lets you tuck a fifth in when someone stays for dinner.

The chair, and the two-tone question

The G-Milan Chair has a ribbed velvet back on gold legs, and is listed in Black, Dark Grey and Ivory. At 86cm high it has a noticeably lower back than most dining chairs — worth knowing in two situations. In a small room, a low back keeps the table looking light instead of walling it in. In an open-plan room, it keeps the sightline from the sofa to the window clear.

Now the finish. A BK-Milan table has black legs and a G-Milan chair has gold legs, so putting them together is a contrast, not a match. It works, and plenty of rooms are built that way deliberately — black and gold read as one scheme far more easily than two near-identical metals do. But if what you want is a table and chairs in a single finish, Milan is not the range for it, and we would rather say so here than let you find out when the delivery arrives. The dining tables and dining chairs pages let you compare the alternatives side by side.

About the G-Milan Stool

The G-Milan Stool shares the ribbed velvet and gold legs, and has an integrated handle for carrying. Read its listing carefully before you buy it as counter seating: it describes the stool as suiting a footrest, additional seating or an accent piece, it does not describe a back, and the 97cm figure is the overall height rather than the seat height. If you want seating at an island, tell us your worktop height and we will confirm whether it is the right piece or point you at the bar stools with backs instead.

Milan in the living room

The coffee table (120 x 60 x 45cm) and lamp table (50 x 50 x 55cm) repeat the ceramic top and cross base exactly, which makes Milan a straightforward choice for an open-plan room: the dining table and the coffee table genuinely match, which is not something every range offers. The nest of two tables (50 x 50 x 45cm and 40 x 40 x 40cm) is the small-space answer where a full coffee table would crowd the floor — one stays out, one slides away.

The compression sofa and access

The Milan Compression Sofa is the unusual one. Its listing describes a four-seat configuration vacuum-compressed into three boxes, with the sections, cushions and upholstery parts detaching independently so the sofa can be arranged and rearranged, and individual pieces cleaned or replaced without touching the rest. It is listed in Dark Grey, Black and Blue.

Arriving in three boxes is the detail to pay attention to if access is the problem rather than the room — a tight stairwell, a narrow front door, a landing with a sharp turn. Ask us to confirm the box sizes against your access before you order, because that is a measurement worth checking rather than hoping about. The listing does not give the assembled dimensions, so ask us for those too.

Storage, and getting it home

Milan runs to a large sideboard at 160 x 40 x 70cm, a small sideboard at 110 x 40 x 70cm and a bookcase at 110 x 33 x 155cm. At 40cm and 33cm deep, these are shallow pieces, which is exactly what a room already holding a dining table needs — they take plates and glasses off the table without eating the walkway. As above, confirm the finish with us first.

Ceramic, velvet and gold all look different in daylight than on a screen, so come and see them if you can. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond that. Browse dining tables, dining chairs, sofas and sideboards and cabinets, or ask a question on any product page.