Elsie Side Table

The Elise Side Table sets a square Ocean marble top on a natural ash veneer base, measuring 48cm wide, 48cm deep and 45cm high. The marble is sealed with a matt resin finish and the base with a water-based sealer. It suits a position beside a sofa or an occasional chair.

Marble over timber is a pairing that works because the two materials fail at different things. Stone is cold, hard and unforgiving of a knock at the edge; timber is warm and takes a mark without looking damaged. Putting the stone on top and the timber underneath gives you the surface that resists rings and heat where it is needed, and the material that survives being kicked where that happens.

A matt seal on the marble is the more considered choice of the two available. A gloss finish makes veining look painted on and shows every fingerprint at this height, where a matt resin keeps the stone reading as stone and hides the handling a side table gets.

At 45cm high it sits just below most sofa arms, which is where a side table belongs. Higher and you reach up to put a glass down, lower and you reach down; the useful band is narrow and this lands inside it.