If you’re looking for a multi-functional piece of furniture, a sideboard may just be what you need. Sideboards use their flat surface, cabinets, and drawers to help you store items, serve food, decorate your space, and hold up your TV.
In this article, you’ll learn exactly what you can use your sideboard for. We’ll even help you tell the difference between a sideboard and other storage furniture and teach you a little bit about the origins of this type of furniture.
What a Sideboard Is
A sideboard is a furniture item resembling a table and a cabinet. Except, this table is always placed against the wall, and has very short legs or no legs at all.
A sideboard has a flat surface and usually consists of compartments like cabinets and drawers. These features make it possible for this piece to not only serve food and dishes, but also display items, and act as storage furniture.
What a Sideboard Isn’t
A sideboard looks like a table that’s placed against the wall, usually housing storage compartments. But this is also how you’d describe a buffet or a credenza.
These items are different, though, but their distinctions are slight and easy to miss.
- A buffet’s legs are longer than a sideboard’s.
- Credenzas have shorter legs than sideboards.
The History of Sideboards
Sideboards go back to the 18th century. At the time, these furniture pieces were usually placed against the wall in dining rooms. Their primary function was to serve food and drinks and store cutlery, plates, table linens, and glassware.
This single-minded application soon changed. In the early 19th century, households had become so prosperous that they could afford to have sideboards in other parts of the house, and use them for a range of other purposes.
Today, you’ll find sideboards in dining rooms, living rooms, bedrooms, entryways, and hallways. You’ll also see them being used for serving food, storing dinnerware, partitioning, and more.
Uses Of Sideboards
Storing Items
Sideboards have drawers and cabinets for storing small to medium-sized items, depending on the design and size of the sideboard.
- If the sideboard is in your dining room, you can use it to store cutlery, plates, table linen, and cookware.
- In the living room, the sideboard’s storage compartments can house books, electronics, mail, keys, and trinkets.
- If you have a sideboard in your bedroom, you can use it to store clothing and bedding.
Serving Food
Since its inception, sideboards have been used to serve food and drinks. This makes them ideal for buffets (not the furniture) and dessert stations. You can also use them to create a mini bar.
Vanity
I’ve found that it’s possible to use sideboards as vanity tables in the bedroom. To do this, I simply added a mirror and a chair. If it suits you better, you can instead use a stool.
The sideboard’s surface will serve as your dressing table, and the storage compartments (cabinets and drawers) can house your skincare and haircare products, jewelry, perfumes, makeup, and other grooming items.
Displaying Items
Sideboards are an ideal option for displaying valuables and decorative pieces, especially in your living room, entryways, and hallways.
On this furniture’s surface, you can show off your vases, picture frames, candles, books, trinkets, and collectibles.
Partitioning
Sideboards can be useful in open-plan or open-concept homes. Whether you have a ‘great room’ or a studio apartment, long, low furniture can create distinct areas in open spaces without obstructing sightlines.
Questions People Frequently Ask About Sideboards
Yes, you can use a sideboard as a TV stand. The particular sideboard you use must be at an appropriate height for comfortable viewing. It should also be strong enough to hold up the weight of the TV.
Additionally, the sideboard’s surface area must be big enough to not only carry the TV, but also have lots of space left behind and in front of it. We also recommend opting for a sideboard that allows for cable management.
Sideboards come at different prices, so you’ll be able to find one that suits your budget. However, antique, older sideboards are typically the most expensive.
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