Sideboards in Oak, Walnut and Painted Finishes
A sideboard is the piece that solves the wall nothing else fits against. Low, long and shallower than it looks, it takes the things a room accumulates and gives you a surface on top of them.
It started as a dining room piece and most now end up in a living room instead, which changes what to look for: depth matters more, and the top has to earn its keep.
Oak sideboards
Oak is what most people come looking for, and on a piece this size the reason is the grain. A sideboard is a large flat surface at eye level when you are sitting down, and open-grained timber gives it something to look at that a plain painted panel does not.
The finish changes it more than the species. Natural and light oak keep a room open and sit well with pale walls. Smoked and rustic oak go darker and busier, with more variation between boards, which suits a room that already has texture in it. Two oak sideboards in different finishes read as two different woods entirely.
Walnut, mango and dark wood sideboards
Walnut runs darker and finer-grained than oak, and it makes a long sideboard look lighter rather than heavier, because the grain does not break the surface up as much.
Mango wood is more varied again, often with strong colour differences between boards in the same piece. That variation is the point of it, and it is worth seeing before ordering if you were expecting something uniform. Dark stained finishes do the same job as walnut at a lower price, with a more even surface.
Small, narrow and slim sideboards
Depth is the measurement that decides whether a sideboard works, and it is the one people forget. A standard sideboard projects far enough into a room to catch a hip on the way past. A narrow one, down around 12in (30cm), fits a hallway or the wall behind a dining chair where a full-depth piece would block the route.
What you give up is what fits inside. A shallow sideboard will not take a dinner plate laid flat, so it suits glassware, table linen, paperwork and the things that go in a drawer rather than a cupboard.
Large sideboards
Long sideboards, from around 5ft (160cm) up, carry a wall on their own. They hold what a dresser and a cupboard would hold between them, and the top becomes a genuine working surface rather than somewhere to put a lamp.
Measure the route in before ordering rather than the wall. A long, deep sideboard is one of the hardest pieces to get through a hall door and round a stair turn, and unlike a wardrobe it does not come apart.
White, cream and grey sideboards
Painted finishes let a large piece sit back rather than dominate. In a small living room, where the sideboard may be the biggest thing in the room after the sofa, that is often what makes it work at all.
White is the sharpest and keeps a room bright. Cream is warmer and softer against natural light, and it sits with wood elsewhere in the room better than a cold white does. Grey does the same job as white with more weight to it, and hides everyday marking along the top edge better than either.
Black sideboards
Black goes the other way and makes the sideboard the thing you see first. It works where the walls are pale and the room needs an anchor, and it suits a piece with visible metalwork or a stone top, where the contrast is part of the design.
In a dark or north-facing room a black sideboard can disappear into the wall, which is either exactly what you want or the opposite.
Rattan, marble and metal sideboards
Not everything here is a plain timber box.
Rattan fronts break up a long run of doors with texture, and the woven panel is slightly open, so the piece reads lighter than its size. Marble and stone tops give you a hard, heat-resistant surface, which matters if the sideboard is going to take serving dishes or a lamp that gets warm. Metal frames and iron doors bring an industrial edge and, in practice, a piece that takes knocks better than veneer does.
Sideboards in the living room
Most sideboards now go in a living room rather than a dining room, and the requirements are different.
Height is the first thing. A sideboard behind or beside a sofa should sit close to the height of the sofa back, or it reads as an unrelated object. Against a free wall, the standard height works with a television on top, which is what a lot of people use them for, though a purpose-made TV unit sits lower and is easier to watch from a sofa.
Depth is the second. In a dining room a sideboard sits against a wall you walk past occasionally. In a living room it is often on the main route through the room, and 4in of extra depth is the difference between a piece you pass and one you edge around.
That projection is also the thing photographs never convey. A sideboard shot straight on looks flat, and it is only walking past one that tells you how much of the room it takes. Our Enniskillen showroom has them out on the floor with space around them, which is the only way to judge it.
Sideboard FAQs
What is a sideboard?
A long, low storage cabinet with cupboards, drawers or both, and a usable surface on top. It is also called a sideboard cabinet, and in some ranges a credenza or buffet.
What is the difference between a sideboard and a console table?
A console table is narrow and mostly open underneath, made to stand against a wall and hold a lamp. A sideboard is deeper, enclosed, and built to store things rather than just support them.
How deep is a sideboard?
Standard sideboards run deep enough to take a dinner plate flat. Narrow and slim ones come down to around 12in (30cm), which fits a hallway but limits what goes inside.
Can you put a TV on a sideboard?
Yes, and many people do. A sideboard sits higher than a purpose-made TV unit, so check the screen height against your seating before deciding.
What do you put in a sideboard?
In a dining room, table linen, glassware, serving dishes and cutlery. In a living room, more often paperwork, games, cables and the things that have nowhere else to live.