Home Interiors: The many uses of the sideboard
The Roller buffet from French furniture designers and retailer Roche Bobois includes lighting, rotating doors, and shelves with a choice of finish in matte or glossy lacquer in a choice of nine colours for €7,260.
I have a topic I love revisiting to see what’s developing with my favourite furniture, an item I’ve been fascinated by since childhood days of playing house, and something I now love to play house with, grown-up style.
It’s the sideboard, with its variety of fascinating compartments, ripe for exploration of its drawers, sectioned to segregate knives from forks on a furry baize lining; to stash freshly laundered table linens, and its cupboards dedicated to the good wares, venturing out only for special occasions.
To my ongoing delight, I managed to pick up a solid teak 1960s model about eight years ago when they were dirt cheap. They’re more expensive now and prices continue to creep up as buyers appreciate the value of having something in this glossy hardwood, and, of course, the Mid-Century Modern look is in vogue.
But while I use mine in the traditional way, I have to agree with Emma Murphy, furniture and accessories buyer at EZ Living Interiors, when she describes the sideboard as one of the most versatile pieces of furniture in any home.
CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB
“With more people investing in home entertaining, there is a need for additional storage space for serving ware and table-top textiles and decorations,” she says, adding that her own sideboard doubles as a bar cabinet and a place to store dinner candles, napkins and placemats.
“It has a slatted front that slides to reveal shelves as well as three drawers,” she says, “meaning you get a lot of storage for the floor space it takes up.”
But apart from the traditional use of sideboards, Emma also sees the shift to working from home giving them multi-function.
“Sideboards have become a great way to store away paperwork, printers and laptops at the end of the day,” she says. “They will easily fit in with living room or kitchen décor and conveniently hide any remnants of your working day, allowing you to fully relax without looking at folders for the rest of the evening.”
And she also sees them as more versatile in the hallway than a console table, making a practical observation if you’re hesitating between choosing one or the other. “Sideboards can have the same footprint as a console table,” she says.
“However, you can use storage baskets inside your sideboard and keep items like hats, scarves, keys and all the other miscellaneous items that gather near the front door neatly concealed. This trend is very typical of the North American aesthetic and would be more common in a large entryway-style hallway.”
But if there’s a novel repurposing with the bonus of getting something unique and saving money at the same time, Emma looks to the bathroom.
“We have a converted sideboard in our own ensuite, with a table top-mounted sink and tap,” she says. “Anyone shopping for bathroom fixtures and furniture will know how expensive a vanity unit can be. It can also be difficult to source larger sizes.
"We had designed our ensuite to fit a 160cm vanity unit to store all of our toiletries, towels and hairdryer. We found a sideboard was the best option in terms of price, volume of storage and quality of material.”
But she adds a word of caution when installing furniture in the bathroom. “It is important to ensure you finish the piece to make it water-resistant, especially the countertop.”
French furniture brand Roche Bobois is noted for its sideboard range which is not only practical but carries high-end design credentials.
Their interior design consultant Shane Mullen, based at the Dublin-based branch, sees the return of the sideboard driven by practicality.
“The phase of lots of open walls of glass is great,” he says, “but people now realise that storage is also important in their everyday lives. As people move away from minimalism, sideboards give people an opportunity to display art, photos, and to bring some nature into the space with plants and flowers.
“We have had people use sideboards as storage for TV equipment and for home office storage for files, and some people also use them for storage in hallways.
"We have also had people use sideboards in their bedrooms, too, as an alternative to wardrobes and dressing tables. The look is really luxurious and storage of favourite handbags or shoes is much less imposing in a bedroom.”
See more from EZ Living and Roche Bobois on Instagram.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
