Earlier in the year we were looking for some small tables for alongside our sofa. We didn't want anything too large - as that would just encourage clutter - and I ruled out a traditional coffee table as it just wouldn't work for us, well me. We had one when we first moved in and I was forever walking into it, which was strange really as I'd had a larger, squarer, lower coffee table in my previous Living room.

We were looking for something that was practical as we really wanted somewhere to put a cup of tea or a glass of wine safely. We wanted something that would fit with the rest of our decor and originally ruled out wood as we have a wooden floor and wooden treads on the spiral stairs. There's also the reclaimed teak unit as well as some light Ikea storage units. And we thought it might be wood overload.

However that's before we saw these blocks on Oak Beam Furniture website. Then we set about convincing ourselves that the Oak would work. A couple of weeks later we placed our order for two 60cm blocks and one 40cm blocks!

Shaun at Oak Beam Furniture hand finishes these in Alfreton, Derbyshire and on his site he says they're sanded "through 6 grades of sandpaper and 5 coats of the finest Danish oil." When they arrived* with us they smelt lovely - a mixture of the wood and the oil - and in the time we've had them we've seen them change as the Oak dries out and splits.

They're heavy too - the larger ones easily weigh around ten kilos, so that's a lot of Oak. Originally we thought we'd use the smaller block as a drinks table on our patio as they're similar-ish to the doorstops we use for some of our other doors. Even though the smaller block is lighter, we've rethought that idea and are using all three as side tables beside our two sofas.

And after many years without tables by the side of our sofa, I'm a convert - I wouldn't be without these now! So if you're looking for some Oak block type tables, I'd definitely recommend taking a look at Oak Beam Furniture.

* In case you're wondering delivery is included in the price on the site and they arrive well-wrapped and protected in bubble wrap