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  3. Select the right kind of sideboard and buffet

Select the right kind of sideboard and buffet

Buying Guide

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January 1, 2025

For those who love to entertain, the right storage furniture is essential for keeping your kitchen and dining room clean, organised and ready for setting the table at a moment’s notice. From buffet tables and pantries to dining tables and shelving cabinets, we’ve put together a handy buying guide to help you select key pieces of furniture for your space and your needs.

Let’s dive in!

Sideboards and buffets are essentials when it comes to the dining room and living room. They provide ample space for storing everything from cutlery and napkins to dinner sets, linen and more. By adding a hutch to your buffet, you can get extra storage for displaying glasses. But how do you know which piece is right for you? Consider these factors:

  • **Size **- Choose a buffet or sideboard that will fit into your available space and look balanced in proportion to surrounding furniture. Make sure that guests have enough room to walk around it and pull their chairs out without bumping into it. A glass buffet or open shelving can create a light and airy feel in small dining rooms, while closed buffets have a heavier look and are best for larger rooms.
  • **Height **- A good rule of thumb is to buy a buffet or sideboard that is the same height as your kitchen benches and higher than your dining table. You want to be able to comfortably serve food off the top of it.
  • **Style **- Buffets and sideboards come in a huge variety of styles. Select one that matches your interior design style, whether it’s mid-century, Scandinavian, minimalist or bohemian.
  • Material - Most buffets and sideboards are made from some type of solid wood or MDF board. Play it safe and choose one in a colour that matches your dining table or add interest by choosing one in a contrasting colour.
  • Functionality - The best buffets combine style with functionality. Its main purpose is to store your dining essentials for special occasions. Look for a piece that has plenty of storage space, including drawers for smaller items like napkins, doors for plates and bowls and shelving for displaying items.

Display cabinets and shelving are perfect options

Display cabinets and open shelving units are ideal for showing off your storage. Make a statement with a tall solid wood display cabinet with glass doors for displaying everything from bowls and plates to plants and vases. Consider a small wine cabinet to hold your expensive wine glasses that matches the buffet and bar stools. Some display cabinets come with a mixture of shelving, drawers and doors to give you versatile storage options.

Dining room buffet sizes and styles

Buffets come in all different sizes and styles for every dining room. The size of your buffet will depend on the size of your dining room.

There are compact 2-door buffets perfect for small rooms as well as tall buffets that take up more wall space than floor space. For larger rooms, you can fill the space with a low 4-door buffet complete with drawers and a matching display cabinet.

Create a unified dining room by matching the style of your buffet to your dining table and dining chairs. This may be a dark walnut mid-century buffet for retro vibes or a rattan and light wood buffet to suit a coastal theme. Add warmth with a rustic timber buffet or enhance a farmhouse interior with a classic white buffet featuring an oak coloured top.

Living room sideboards to look out for

A sideboard has shorter legs than a buffet and is placed in the living room. They can be used to house your dinner sets and serving ware but they can also be used to store books, games and knick-knacks as well as display ceramics, vases, art, photos and much more.

At Amart, you can pick up a new sideboard that will fit beautifully into your living space and match with armchairs, 5-seater corner lounges, entertainment units and other furniture. Discover:

  • Modern black panelled sideboards with stunning white marble-look tops.
  • Sleek teal sideboards with gold handles and legs.
  • Rustic sideboards with a wood-tone paper finish to add warmth.
  • Contemporary white sideboards with a high gloss finish and black legs.
  • Rattan sideboards with a beech finish featuring doors and shelves.
  • Federation-style sideboards in rich tones with antique metal handles.

Trending materials and looks

Wood tables are on trend in 2023, especially ones featuring rich tones that add warmth and character to a dining room. From deep brown to walnut to golden blondes, wooden storage furniture invites guests into the room and creates a rustic and timeless feel. Here are some other looks and materials you’ll want to consider this year:

  • Geometric patterns - think patterned cushions and rugs plus herringbone buffets and buffets with contemporary geometric designs. Our Gates Black Buffet is a top choice!
  • Glass front display cabinets - it’s the year to show off what you’ve got! Display pretty glassware behind glass doors as well as ornaments, art, photos, vases and candles.
  • **Metallic details **- put some bling into your dining room storage furniture. Consider buffets and display cabinets with gold or silver handles, feet and accents.
  • **Moody colours **- embrace the dark side in 2023 with furniture that comes in rich, moody hues. Dark wooden buffets, black buffets and deep teal wine cabinets can be matched with velvet curtains and textured cushions for a look that oozes luxury.

Finding the right size for your space

The main thing to consider when choosing a buffet for your dining room is its size. It’s important that the buffet is proportionate to your dining table and fits the room. Generally, you want your buffet to be as high or higher than the dining table so that you can easily serve food from it. They also should not be longer than your dining table as this will take away the focus.

In terms of storage space, make sure you have enough room for all of your entertaining essentials and that guests can move their chairs in and out without bumping into furniture.

Different styles for different needs

The type of dining room storage furniture you choose will largely depend on the dining experience. Do you love formal dining with lots of guests? A large display cabinet with matching buffet and wine cabinet makes the perfect dining storage for special occasions.

For something more casual with family, maybe a 2-door 3-shelf buffet will be enough to hold your plates, bowls and cutlery for meals. A 1-door pantry is ideal for small rooms that need extra storage.

If you like to take the entertainment from the dining room into the living room, consider a matching sideboard and coffee table for ample storage and loads of style.

Consider table and room size

The dining table should be the focus of your dining area while the dining room furniture acts as a support to it. How do you find the right dining table for your room and needs? We’ve put together some tips to consider when choosing table shape and size:

  • Rectangular dining tables are ideal for rectangular rooms and fill large spaces nicely. They’re also perfect for larger gatherings as many guests can sit side-by-side and comfortably converse with others across the table.
  • Round dining tables are better suited to a small space as they create a more intimate environment, allowing diners to sit closer together and hear each other easily around the table.
  • Square tables are also great for small spaces, especially in square rooms.

  • An extendable table is ideal if you have a small dining room as it can extend to fit in extra guests and retract afterwards to save space.

  • Dining sets come with the dining room table and the dining chairs to give you a quick and easy way of filling your dining space.
  • Glass tables look beautiful in smaller rooms as they give the illusion of space and create a light and airy feel, particularly when paired with glass display cabinets.
  • When choosing the height of your dining table, a rule of thumb is to have at least 31cm between the dining chair and the table top.

Storage units to fit your dining style

Storage units combine impeccable style with functionality to give you a beautiful space to store all of your essentials for dining. If you love to throw regular dinner parties with many guests, you’ll want to invest in a larger buffet and display cabinet with drawers for tablecloths, napkins and cutlery as well as shelf space for dinner sets and glasses. Casual diners may benefit more from a small 2-door buffet to hold the basics.

Whatever your dining style, find storage furniture to suit it at Amart. Shop online and checkout with fast delivery to your postcode or visit your nearest showroom and let our friendly team help you to create your dream dining room.

Additional features to look out for

Before you go ahead and buy new storage furniture for your dining room, keep an eye out for these extra features that may come in handy:

  • A dry bar to prepare cocktails and other drinks.
  • A buffet with a marble table top that lets you place hot plates on the surface.

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