A sideboard is a low-lying piece of furniture; they’re generally long with multiple doors and sometimes drawers for optimal storage.
Sideboards first emerged in England during the Victorian era in the 18th and 19th centuries. Originally, they were designed to store table linens and house service ware — like cutlery and plates. The sideboard would traditionally sit in the dining room, where it would double as a food service station during dinner parties.
But a sideboard isn’t just a functional piece of furniture; if it’s designed with style in mind, it will be an integral part of your home décor. Today, sideboards can serve a whole host of functions, making them a key piece of wooden furniture for every home!
A TV Distraction
The television isn’t the most attractive fixture of the modern-day home. A solid wooden sideboard is a great way to distract you from this eyesore. By placing a carefully curated and styled sideboard below a wall-mounted TV, the eye will be drawn to the sideboard, not the set.
For those living in a rental where you’re not allowed to mount a TV on the wall, a sideboard is a great space to rest the television atop. Again, you can style the remaining free space on the sideboard to distract from the screen.
A Dining Service Station
Sometimes the original ideas are the best ones. A sideboard is an excellent addition to a functional dining room.
If you host friends for dinner parties or if you have a large family, a robust sideboard like those made by Woodcraft is great for both service ware storage but also for serving family-style meals and buffets. Authentic, robust wooden sideboards are an especially good choice for the dining room as you can select the same type of wood as your dining table, giving the space optimal cohesion.
A Cocktail Bar
If you or your partner are a budding mixologist and you enjoy a cocktail after a long week at work, a sideboard can double as a cute bar. Perfect for storing and displaying your best glassware, a sideboard has ample room to keep your favourite cocktail shakers and decanters safe.
A Creative Storage Option
While some homewares — like framed photos and ornaments — can be nicely styled and displayed behind the glass doors or on top of a sideboard, other everyday items are best hidden, like financial papers, laptops, tablets and crafting accessories (to name just a few). A sideboard with dual frontage (wood and glass) offers the best of both worlds.
Add Purpose to Your Hallway
Narrow sideboards are fabulous for long hallways. The storage is ideal for house and car keys, gloves, mitts, and sunglasses, while the top provides visual interest in the hall — which is usually an exclusively functional space — since the sideboard can display lamps, plants, and artworks.
Sideboards offer can be purposed for multiple uses throughout the home. Purchasing a quality wood sideboard is an excellent investment as you can move it through multiple areas of the house as your family’s needs change.
