Buffets & Sideboards

Choosing a buffet or sideboard

A buffet or sideboard is the hardest-working piece in a dining or living room: closed storage for the plates, glasses and table linen you do not want on show, a long surface for serving, a lamp and a vase, and a wall of timber or colour that gives the room a focus the table cannot. Buffet, sideboard, buffet cabinet, sideboard buffet: the names overlap, and choosing one comes down to length, storage layout and finish.

Buffet or sideboard: what is the difference?

In Australia the words describe the same piece of furniture: a long, low cabinet on legs or a plinth with doors and drawers. A buffet is what it is called in the dining room, where it is used for serving; a sideboard is the same cabinet when it lives in a living room, hallway, bedroom or home office, holding everything from board games to linen. A buffet display cabinet or hutch adds a glazed top for glassware; a server is a narrower buffet. Every piece on this page works as either, so choose by the room you have rather than the word.

Length and proportion

Match the sideboard to the wall and, in a dining room, to the table. A buffet should be shorter than the dining table it sits near and leave about 90 cm of walkway between the two so chairs can be pulled out. Standard buffets and sideboards run 160 to 200 cm long; large sideboards 210 to 240 cm suit a long wall, an open-plan living room or a ten-seat table; a small buffet cabinet around 120 to 150 cm fits an apartment, a hallway or the wall under a window. Height is usually 80 to 90 cm, a comfortable serving height close to a kitchen bench, and depth of 40 to 50 cm keeps the walkway clear.

Doors, drawers and what goes where

Doors hide the bulk: dinner sets, platters, serving bowls, the appliances that live in the dining room, or the games and blankets in a living room sideboard. Drawers hold cutlery, linen, candles, remotes and the things you reach for every week. A four-door sideboard gives the most hidden storage and the cleanest front; a three-door, three-drawer buffet is the most practical mix for most households. Check the shelf heights inside the doors against your tallest platter, and look for soft-close hinges and drawer runners.

Timber, white, black or two-tone

Solid timber sideboards in Marri, oak, elm and reclaimed timbers bring grain and warmth and pair with a timber dining table or a timber entertainment unit in the same tone. A white buffet in Hamptons or coastal style keeps a room light and shows off what sits on top of it. A black buffet cabinet or black sideboard anchors a pale room and suits a modern setting with black-framed chairs and lamps. Two-tone sideboards, with a timber top on a painted base, bridge the two, and parquetry, herringbone and fluted fronts add detail without colour. Stone and concrete-look tops take the hard use of a serving surface.

Styling a buffet or sideboard

Hang a mirror or a piece of art above it, slightly narrower than the cabinet, and keep the surface to three things: a table lamp at one end, a vase or sculptural object, and a tray or stack of books. In a dining room, leave room to put a platter down on the night. In a living room, a sideboard under the television or along the back wall pairs with a display unit that takes the glassware and objects the closed doors hide.

See them in a Perth showroom

The Furniture Gallery is WA owned and family run, with showrooms across Perth and regional WA. Open the doors and drawers, compare the timbers and finishes in natural light, and measure the sideboard against the wall and the table you have. When you have chosen, add it to your cart and enter your postcode for a delivery price; our white-glove delivery team will unpack it, position it and take the packaging away.