Leo Coffee Table

The Leo Coffee Table from Four Hands is a long, low rectangle of oak with the grain left visible under its finish. Solid oak and thick oak veneer make up the top and the sled-style legs, and reeded detailing runs along the surfaces to give it a ribbed, linear texture. The edges are subtly rounded, so the table reads as softly architectural and not sharp-cornered. It is a substantial piece with real heft, built to anchor a seating group.

Designer Ronald Sasson and longtime Four Hands collaborator Thomas Bina shaped Leo around Brazilian midcentury furniture, and you can see it in the restrained proportions and the way the reeding does the decorating work in place of ornament. The finish comes in a grey wash that lets the oak read cool and quiet, or in a smoked black that turns the grain dark and graphic. Either one sits easily with boucle, leather, linen, and woven rugs, and with other wood tones in the room.

Set it in front of a large sofa or sectional and it gives you plenty of surface for a stack of books, a tray of glasses, and a bowl of something green. The open space beneath the top is useful for baskets or magazines. Leg levelers on the feet keep it steady on floors that are not quite true.