SG-London Coffee Table: pedestal base, 120cm top, legroom

The SG-London Coffee Table is listed in one size, 120 x 60 x 45cm, with a gold frame, a U-shaped pedestal base and a choice of marble or ceramic top. The base is the part worth thinking about hardest, because it changes how the table lives with a rug and with the feet of whoever is sitting round it. Everything here comes from the listing, and the gaps in the listing are flagged as gaps.

The size, exactly as listed

The listing gives the three numbers without labelling them. They read as width, depth and height in that order, which is the usual convention, but confirm it with the shop if the table is going into a measured gap between a sofa and a chair.

• 120cm is a three-seat-sofa length. Hold a tape along the front of your own sofa and see how much of it the table would cover.
• 60cm of depth means two people can face each other across it and both reach the middle.
• 45cm of height is the number to compare with your seat cushion height, measured with someone sitting on it.

A pedestal base rather than legs

The listing describes a U-shaped pedestal base and credits it with stability and visual lightness. In practical terms a pedestal behaves differently from four corner legs in three ways worth checking in your own room.

• Feet and knees. There is no leg at the corners to kick, which suits a table that people sit close around.
• Rugs. A pedestal spreads its load over a longer line of contact rather than four points, so it tends to sit more evenly on a rug. Check the base footprint against your rug width so it does not straddle the edge.
• Vacuuming and cleaning. One base to work round instead of four legs, but a closed base shape can trap dust in the inside of the U.

What the listing does not give, and we are not going to invent: the footprint of the base itself, the thickness or weight of the top, whether the marble option is natural stone or a marble-effect surface, whether the ceramic is a slab or a surface over board, how the gold finish is applied, or whether the table arrives assembled. Ask about those before you order if any of them matter to you.

Choosing the top, and quoting the right code

Marble or ceramic are both offered, but there is no top selector on the product page, so say which one you want when you enquire. The supplier code on this one is LEWIS09, listed here as AWS-LEWIS09, which does not match the London name. Quote the code as well as the name so there is no confusion about which table is being priced.

The listing carries only two photographs. If the marble option turns out to be natural stone that is thin evidence, because no two pieces of stone match, so it is fair to ask for a picture of the actual table or of the pattern currently being supplied.

What it sits with

Across coffee tables there are several pieces at exactly these figures, which makes a straight comparison easy:

• the SG-Lewis Coffee Table is the same 120 x 60 x 45cm with the same marble or ceramic choice, on a slim four-leg gold frame instead of a pedestal, and it carries a much fuller photograph set
• the Venice Coffee Table keeps the ceramic top but puts it on black legs
• the Siena Coffee Table is the same size again in an oak effect top with black legs, for a warmer and plainer look

Since the top figures are identical across all four, tape the 120 x 60 outline out on the floor once and you have tested the whole shortlist at the same time.

Before you order, and on the day

• Measure the doorways and the tightest turn on the way in, not only the room.
• Decide the walkway you want to keep past the table and measure what is left.
• Check the top over for edge and corner damage before you sign for it.
• Ask the shop for the current lead time, and confirm the top option and the base footprint at the same time.

Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond. If the dimensions work, the SG-London Coffee Table page has the photographs and the enquiry form, which is where to settle the top choice.