A sideboard or buffet, also known as a buffef table, is a long, low piece of furniture that’s usually placed in a dining room to store and display items. It’s also used as an extra surface for serving food. You’ll find sideboards and buffets are versatile enough to have in a living room, an entryway, and a hallway as a storage and display piece, as well. You may even decide to repurpose a long, low bureau or a console table with a drawer by moving it into your dining room to function as a sideboard or buffet.
The process of choosing a sideboard shouldn’t be difficult. It’s important to understand the difference between these versatile furniture items. Dressers are normally used in the bedroom, as a storage solution with drawers. Sideboards can fulfil the same role, but they work best in smaller areas like a narrow hallway. Whichever you choose, take advantage of the upper space for decorative purposes.
When deciding on the style for your buffet or sideboard, you generally speaking have two options: choose something with a style that fully matches your current dining room or living room furniture, or dare to be different.
If you are not really the adventurous type when it comes to furniture, choosing the same style as the current furniture is the safer option. Safe doesn’t have to be boring: a style that perfectly fits in with your present furniture and décor can look classy and timeless.
Regardless of the preferred term, when wondering how to choose a sideboard, we must look at dimensions first. Decide on its purpose and the room where you want to place it. Then consider the layout of the room and the rest of the furniture. If you need it for your dining area, pay attention to the size of your dining set. Remember to place it at least 60 cm away from other furniture, to allow the doors and drawers to open.
But what’s a good height for a sideboard? Sideboards normally have no or short legs, to provide more storage space. In terms of height, a sideboard is often around 70 to 90 cm tall. This is an important aspect, as this height allows a perfect setup for serving food off of it, at your next buffet party. Ideal for storing dining items, the sideboard should match the height of your dining table, for a balanced décor.
A sideboard should complement the rest of the furniture in your dining room. Find a design that will meet your storage and style needs.
Remember that a buffet or sideboard is more than just a lovely piece of furniture. It is also supposed to be very functional and useful. Different buffets have different functional features, so before you buy make time to write down a couple of notes on how you intend to use it.
A buffet with drawers, for example, will be great to store things such as napkins, cutlery, plates, place-mats and similar items. It won’t be such a good option if you want to store bigger, bulkier items such as vases or fairly large containers. In that case one with doors and perhaps adjustable shelves will be a better alternative.
Some buffets offer specialist features such as a dry bar, which is perfect for serving drinks. Others come with a marble top where you can put down hot dishes without any fear of damaging the surface.