Roma Pedestal 55: 30.5cm square, 71cm tall, for tight gaps

Most small furniture is wide and low. The Roma Pedestal 55 is the other shape: 30.5 x 30.5 x 71cm, a slim square column taller than it is broad. The figures are unlabelled, but with two of the three identical only the 71cm is really open to question, so ask us to confirm it if the height is what decides your gap. That proportion is the whole reason to choose it, and it comes with one trade-off worth knowing about.

A 30.5cm square footprint

Thirty centimetres is about the width of a sheet of A4 laid landscape, which is a useful mental picture. It is small enough to go in the places a 45cm or 50cm table cannot: a narrow gap between a bed and a wall, the sliver beside an armchair, the space next to a chimney breast, the end of a hallway.

The trade-off is surface. A lamp with a wide base plus a mug plus a book will not all sit on a 30.5cm top at once. Decide which two of those three matter and check the base diameter of the lamp you intend to use; lamp bases of 20cm to 25cm are common and leave very little margin on a top this size.

71cm is tall for a bedside piece

Seventy-one centimetres is roughly table height, and taller than many mattresses finish. Beside a low bed that means reaching up rather than across, which some people like because nothing on the top is in the sweep of an arm at night, and others do not. The way to settle it is to measure from your floor to the top of your own mattress and compare.

Beside a seat it works differently and usually better. An armchair arm commonly lands around 60cm to 65cm, so a 71cm top stands just above it, which is a comfortable height to set a drink down on without looking.

Do not read 55 as a size

The number in the name is from the supplier's reference, ROMA-55, not a measurement. It is the opposite way round from what people assume: this piece has a smaller footprint than the Roma Pedestal 33, which is listed at 49 x 49 x 69cm. Compare the listed sizes, never the names.

The gaps in the listing

Nothing is stated about drawers or shelves, the finish, the colour, the edge detail or the weight, and nothing about whether it needs putting together. On a tall, narrow piece the base area and stability are fair questions too. Look at the photographs on the Roma Pedestal 55 page, then ask us what you still need to know; we would rather check the item than publish a guess.

Companion pieces

In the same range the Roma Nest of Tables covers the low side-table job, with its smallest at 31 x 45 x 33cm, and the Roma Dressing Table, listed at 110 x 45 x 85cm, is the bedroom piece it sits with. The rest is in Mirrored Furniture. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store, £50 beyond it.