Torino Lamp Table: 55cm square, 50cm high, and what it suits

The Torino Lamp Table is listed at 55 x 55 x 50cm, and that single line is the whole of its listing. No material, no finish and no weight is recorded against it. Even so, a square top and a 50cm height are what decide whether a side table works in a room, and both of those are in the figures.

The figures, exactly as listed

Two of the three numbers match, which makes this listing easier to read than most: the top is square at 55cm and the table stands 50cm tall. The order is still unlabelled, so if you are working to the centimetre, ask us to confirm which figure is the height before you order.

What a 55cm square top takes

A square uses its width better than a circle of the same span when the table sits in a corner. Both edges run parallel to the things around them, so it can go tight against a sofa arm and a wall without leaving a wedge of unusable floor behind it.

On the top, a lamp base of 20 to 25cm across leaves room for a mug, a remote and a paperback beside it. A lamp and a laptop together is tighter than people expect, and if both have to live there you are better off with a second surface than a bigger one.

Why 50cm is the number to check

A side table is comfortable when its top is level with the sofa arm or a little under it. Any higher and you reach over the arm to set a glass down; much lower and you reach down past it. Measure from your floor to the top of the arm before you decide. 50cm suits the low to mid-height arms on most modern sofas and sits low beside a tall traditional frame.

That height repeats across the Torino tables listed here, which helps if you want the room to look settled rather than assembled: both Torino nests are given as 50cm tall as well, so their tops finish level with this one.

What the listing does not tell you

Everything other than the size, and it is worth being blunt about that. There is no material, no colour or finish, no weight, and no note on whether it arrives assembled. The product page carries nine photographs, which are the clearest evidence on the finish; anything they do not settle is a question to put to us first rather than after delivery. This is a piece we buy in from a supplier, so the description on the page is theirs, not ours.

The Torino pieces it sits with

If one table is not enough, the Torino Nest of 2 Tables and the Torino Nest of 3 Tables are both listed at 54 x 37 x 50cm, so they share the same height and tuck away when they are not wanted. For a round top at a similar size, the Venice Lamp Table is listed at 50cm across and 55cm high.

Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. The size, the photographs and the price are all on the Torino Lamp Table page, and we will answer anything the listing does not before you commit to it.