Sideboards

The sideboard is one of the most common furnishings in the living and dining areas. Also known as a 'mobile buffet', the sideboard is a piece of furniture that was historically found in the kitchen or dining room and was the place where, by tradition, they kept dishes and cutlery. A versatile furnishing accessory par excellence, the sideboard lends itself today to a series of very different uses, proposing itself as a storage unit destined for a plurality of environments. The modern sideboard is not only a multifunctional complement, but it is a piece of furniture that contributes to the aesthetic rendering of an interior design project. With clean lines, new materials and bold designs, the traditional kitchen chests have in fact been reinterpreted in a contemporary key becoming a true declaration of style of the environments in which they are placed.

Which sideboard is best suited to your needs

The sideboard has a low structure that develops in length, unlike the highboard that instead develops in height. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the space available and, in particular, the length of the sideboard you wish to purchase. If the height of a sideboard is always below one meter, the length is very variable: there are two, three, four and even six-leaf sideboards. The smaller sideboards are perfect for the bedroom, under the stairs or in a confined space, the lower ones, in particular, are practical for houses with low or sloping ceilings.
The sideboard can be placed directly on the floor or on your feet. Suspended sideboards, on the other hand, create an effect of lightness and are not too cumbersome as they are not too thick.
The sideboards can be configured in infinite combinations according to the use we want to make of them and the type of objects to be stored.
Sideboards with doors or drawers are very practical: first, they protect the inside from dust; second, they hide the contents from view, especially if the objects are stored in a disorderly manner. If you have a lot of space available, you can choose a sideboard with hinged doors: this type of furniture is suitable to contain many objects and to keep the house tidy. In this case, account must be taken of the size of the doors, which must be able to open without difficulty.
Sliding door units solve space problems but, unlike hinged doors, they cannot be opened at the same time.
To store small objects, cutlery, tablecloths or even documents, you can think of a sideboard with drawers. The latter are also suitable in studios or offices for the organization of stationery products.
Sideboard without drawers and with large internal compartments are ideal for storing taller objects such as bottles and vases. The large storage compartments with internal shelves are suitable for toys, books, CD/DVD holders and for storing audio-video systems for TV. In this regard, in recent years have been introduced on the market sideboard with integrated speakers to listen to good music or watching a movie: the TV in this case finds place either on the same floor of the kitchen chest or on the wall. The sideboard speakers are directly connectable to smartphones and can be managed via apps.

The modern sideboard: versatile and multifunctional furniture

The sideboards have retained an important place in the house for hundreds of years and have established themselves as a practical storage solution in addition to kitchen chests and kitchen highboards. Some of the units are equipped with many doors and drawers to maximize the potential for storage and preservation. The top of the sideboard is useful in these cases to temporarily place the dishes or bottles of wine during dinner, especially if there are guests and the surface of the table is full.
With the increase in domestic technology in recent years and the birth of modular and custom-made kitchens, in which there is no shortage of space dedicated to storage, the sideboard has lost its initial function of a piece of furniture to support meals.
Nowadays, however, the sideboard remains the most suitable solution to keep disorder to a minimum: inside, in fact, it is possible to store a wide variety of objects that are not only reduced to dishes, glasses and household items. In the living room, the sideboard with flap doors are ideal for storing drinks, toys, books. Tilt&Turn™ Desktops are perfect for storing all types of multimedia systems to support your TV.
The upper floor of the sideboard is perfect for displaying photographs and family memorabilia and can be embellished with elegant table lamps. Moreover, the tops of the sideboards are often used as a support surface for books, hats and keys, almost acting as coin trays if placed close to the entrance of the house. In the office or home office, the sideboards can contain stationery, office supplies and electronics and provide a work surface for printers and document holders. In this case, the sideboards often have doors with locks to keep valuables or confidential information safe.
Sideboards can also be a welcome addition to the bedroom to store blankets and sheets and even in the bathroom, where towels, bath mats and toiletries can be stored neatly. Just to meet the many needs and uses, the modular sideboard allow you to take advantage of all the space available.

The sideboard as a display cabinet

In the common imagination, the sideboard is always seen as a piece of furniture suitable for holding objects of various kinds, placed against the wall. The design sideboards presented in recent years are instead real showcases, characterized by open compartments that offer the opportunity to exhibit elegant pieces, crystals and art objects. The double-sided sideboards even allow you to separate two spaces between them, becoming a real divider, albeit low, in an environment in which they are located. Open compartments are often replaced by glass or crystal doors that show the preciousness of the interiors: the sideboard with integrated lighting highlight put even more the valuable objects on display inside them. This furniture is very delicate and fragile and requires special attention, especially if you have very lively children at home.

The sideboard: choose the right material

The sideboards were born in the eighteenth century as indispensable elements to serve lunch. They reached their popularity during the 19th century, when families were prosperous enough to dedicate a room exclusively to lunch. The classic kitchen chests in fact were complements available in a wide range of decorative styles, made of wood and embellished with expensive veneers and inlays.
Versatile in both use and form, the design of the sideboard lends itself today to material and chromatic experimentation, for models capable of satisfying any stylistic and design requirements. Among the models available on the market it is, in fact, possible to range between sideboards with clean and squared geometries that play with the alternation of full and empty and interlocking volumes, or traditional kitchen chests with doors and drawers.
Those looking for a sideboard have an infinite number of possibilities. Depending on the budget, the material and consequently the quality of the sideboards may vary. If you want more solidity and quality you can opt for a wooden sideboard, where damage caused by scratches and impacts are also easier to remove and paint. The wooden sideboards are a smart investment: in addition to being resistant, they acquire character and charm even with wear and tear, giving a vintage touch to the environment in which they are placed. Among the most requested essences we mention oak, walnut, teak and rosewood for the classic style sideboards. These pieces of furniture are made with stronger edges and with particular attention to detail and joints that can give them a unique style.
If you do not want to leave the wood in sight and you want to give a touch of color to the room, whether it is in contrast or in combination with the rest of the furniture, we recommend the lacquered sideboards fully customizable in colors: monochrome, two-tone or multicolor, the choice is really wide.
A cheaper alternative to solid wood, are the veneered wood claddings sideboards characterized by a coating consisting of a thin sheet of real wood glued to the surfaces. Veneers can be laid on less expensive and lighter materials to save costs or simply added to obtain a particular grain or colour of wood.
If you do not want to give up the warmth of wood but do not have a high budget available, you can opt for a steel and wood sideboard where the structure is made of metal and panels, drawers or doors are made of wood. For an industrial and post-modern style, we recommend the steel or aluminium sideboards, characterized by minimal and clean lines, and also the modern sideboards with concrete finish. Those who love a more refined style will surely choose a glass sideboard, as elegant as it is extremely delicate. This type of furniture is more suitable for display than for containment: the glass of the doors can therefore be transparent, satin-finish or coloured depending on how much you want to show on the inside. If you are more oriented towards a luxury style, the sideboards with doors covered in leather or the sideboard in marble are what you need: characterized by timeless elegance and simple and clean lines, the sideboards in leather or marble require special care for cleaning and maintenance. The weight of the marble sideboards must also be taken into account, which is certainly greater than that of a traditional piece of furniture. Finally, there are also the most unusual materials such as synthetic materials (resins and melamines) resistant to scratches, heat, steam, water and stains; the latest generation composite materials such as solid surface and finally ceramic materials such as majolica that give a country chic look to the house.