Oak Sideboards

Stylish storage for every room in the home

An oak sideboard is a highly useful piece of furniture and today we discuss its merits in various rooms of the home; some that you may not have thought of using a sideboard in! Put quite simply, a sideboard is a decorative piece of furniture that is also very functional and practical for any style of home.

A sideboard was traditionally a popular feature of a dining room in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The name “sideboard” comes from it being used at the side of the dining area so cutlery, glassware and pottery were always easy to hand. Some were used to serve food, which led to the name “buffet table”.

Today’s sideboards are available in a vast range of sizes and designs making them stylish and very useful for storage. Most sideboards have cupboards and drawers so providing multi-use storage. Sideboards tend to be lower than a bookcase or display cabinet meaning they can be used in areas in front of windows and will not block the view or overpower a room.

All our sideboards are all craftsman made from high-quality materials which will ensure they will last no matter how much weight and bulk you choose to keep inside them.

Sideboard Size Comparison

We have chosen four of our most popular ranges and arranged their sizes in a table so you can see at a glance the different size options.

Rooms to use a Sideboard

Dining Area

We’ll start with the obvious, your dining area. This may be a formal dining room or an area that leads off an open-plan kitchen/diner or a lounge/diner. In either case, the sideboard is perfect for the use it was traditionally developed for. Keep table linens, serving dishes, glassware, placemats and glassware.

With the careful placing of heat-resistant mats, you can also use your sideboard to place food for your guests to help themselves. When not in use as a “buffet table”, you can decorate the top of the sideboard with your favourite serving dishes, vases, a lamp, picture frames or even a leafy plant.

Your choice of sideboard design depends upon other furniture styles in the room, you can choose matching furniture from ranges such as Hardwick Light Oak or Loxley Rustic oak or go for a painted sideboard to add contrast to plain oak furniture.

Lounge

In a lounge, the sideboard is perfect for displaying your favourite collectables atop along with a lamp to add extra mood lighting to the room.

The storage provided by the sideboard can be used for games, films, children’s toys, craft supplies or even books and magazines. The drawers are ideal for smaller objects such as spare coasters, remotes or batteries.  

Your lounge sideboard could also be used to house your TV, especially if you have a really large TV, there is plenty of space for it to sit safely.

No matter what you use it for, a sideboard adds an air of elegance to any lounge as well as loads of practical storage.

If you have the space, we’d recommend the impressive large Hardwick Oak sideboard for maximum impact and storage capability.

Hallway

You may not have thought of having a sideboard in a hallway, but the appropriately sized sideboard provides a space for keys, hats, gloves or umbrellas and the cupboard under can be used to store shoes or bags. This will keep your hallway neat and tidy as there is a place to keep everything so no losing your keys!

On the style front, a sideboard is an elegant addition to a hall and will give visitors a good impression of your home as they enter.

Progressive would recommend the smaller sideboards for your hallway, the Hardwick Light Oak small, the Loxley small or the Ivan Stone painted small sideboard.

Office

Our industrial style of sideboards such as the Magnus Industrial Oak lends itself perfectly to an office environment. It can be used to store your laptop, stationary and important paperwork. An office sideboard is just the ticket for keeping your office neat and tidy. This is even more important if your office space is within another room within the home such as a bedroom or lounge.

Bedroom

If you have never thought about a sideboard in your bedroom, think about how difficult it is to find a suitable space for think winter sweaters or sweatshirts. They tend to be too bulky for drawers and take up valuable hanging space in a wardrobe. The large cupboards of a sideboard are perfect for neatly folding your chunky woollens and sweatshirts.

You can also use the cupboards to store away extra bedding which again is rather space hungry. The drawers are perfect for keeping small toiletry items neat and tidy. You can keep hair accessories, perfumes, makeup or jewellery, all easily to hand when you need them.

In a child’s bedroom, the sideboard is perfect for storing anything from toys to books or even bulky clothing items. It is a simple way of helping to keep your child’s bedroom neat and tidy.  

Bathroom

I bet you never thought of a sideboard in a bathroom. Obviously, you need a large enough bathroom with wall space for the sideboard with sufficient space to open and close doors.

For smaller bathrooms, the extra small Hardwick Light Oak or extra small Loxley would be perfect. For bathrooms with more space, you could choose medium and larger sideboards.

Use your sideboard to keep extra towels, cleaning products, spare toilet rolls or toiletries.

The top of your sideboard could be used for lovely glassware storage jars, a pretty tissue box holder or decorate with your favourite photos, vases or even a plant that thrives in a steamy bathroom.

Decorating your oak sideboard

No matter where in the room you place an oak sideboard there are a few design trick you can use to really dress it up and give that wow factor.

Mirrors

Unless it is in front of a window, think about the space behind the sideboard. You can place a large mirror on the wall behind which will double the impact of any display atop the sideboard. A mirror also helps to reflect light around the room, perfect for smaller spaces.

Lamps

Highlight the space with a well-chosen lamp. Your lamp will provide mood lighting in the room and will help to bring attention to any items displayed. We have a whole range of lamps on display in our showroom.

Art

Create a focal point with a large artwork behind your sideboard. Our liquid art collection would be perfect for this.

Plants

Use your sideboard top to show off your favourite potted in varying sizes for visual interest. Try placing an indoor tree or plant with fabulous foliage at the side of your sideboard to balance the look.

Vases and collectables

The top of your sideboard is the perfect space to display your treasured items, photo frames, sculpture, ornaments, vases and any other special items. You could choose one or two key pieces such as our Edge Sculptures. Do try and remember the rule of three though and don’t over-clutter your sideboard surface – see the last point below!

Rule of Three

No matter what you place on the top of your oak sideboard, to avoid it looking cluttered try and remember to group similar objects in threes. Resist the temptation to totally cover the entire surface with objects, sometimes less really is more.

We have mentioned some of our oak sideboards throughout this article, however, here are just a few more of our most popular sideboards. They are all on display in our showroom along with other pieces of furniture from each range. You can also buy from this website. Each item is listed with sizes, features and delivery times.

If you ant see exactly what you are looking for, just give us a call and we will do our very best to help you find your perfect sideboard.

Delivery

Our friendly team will deliver the sideboard to your home to the right room leaving it ready for you to use and enjoy.

Opening Hours

We are open Tuesday to Saturday from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm and are closed Sunday and Monday.

If you are visiting us to look at a specific piece of furniture and want to be sure we have it on display, just give us a call before travelling and we can check what we have in stock for you.

Our team look forward to welcoming you to our showroom soon.

See our Contact Page for details of how to find us.

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