As the founder of Hampstead designer furniture business NW3 Interiors, Carly Madhvani has the inside scoop on many of London’s best kept interior design secrets. In the first of a new series, she shares her tips for buying a staple of any family home, the dining table.

Furnishing your home can be time consuming and full of pit falls. I hear cries from clients who desperately want their home to be beautiful but do not have the time to keep up-to-date with new designs, which colour and type of material to buy and which are great investments.

Let’s look at the highly-important family dining table. A place where we love to be sitting comfortably, sharing our news, views and events.

The Ultimate Iconic Design Dining Table has to be the Tulip Table designed by Eero Saarinen in 1957, made by Knoll. This table, a favourite of many (including TV’s famous architect of Amazing Spaces: George Clarke) has graced the pages of every glossy interior magazine due to its simple and elegant design. But did you know that there are seven sizes, 20 varieties of top options and three base colours?

In fact, the white marble version we have in our showroom is 10 years old, has had two children dining at it and somehow it still looks perfect!

The brands I’d recommend all have their individual ways of certifying their authenticity. The secret is to know where to find the stamp and to keep the paper work. For example, Knoll include a metal tag under each table or chair base and Cassina provide an individual serial number for their Le Corbusier pieces. Vitra have both. All of these should be kept safely so that if you choose to sell it later on, you will receive the best price.

Although so many of us love the timeless, iconic look of furniture designed up to 80 years ago, it can often be more appealing and unique to specify them in a modern material. (NW3 Interiors have an online page dedicated to ‘new products’ which has all of our favourites shown in new ways).

In addition to such updates, it’s also worth looking at limited edition pieces like the ‘Le Corbusier LC4 Chaise with Louis Vuitton leather’ and the ‘Furniture of the Future’, which are pieces I believe are future classics.

For more secrets visit nw3interiorsltd.com, sign up to their newsletter or contact them for a free consultation at your home.