Fun Friday Furniture Fact:  Buffet vs. Sideboard

Sometimes, it seems as if everyone has their own name for that piece in the den. And generally, we are all usually more or less correct, since well-built storage and display furniture is typically designed to be highly versatile.  Functionally, a buffet and a sideboard are pretty much the same thing: A fabulously flexible storage piece.  While buffets are usually considered to be more weighty and substantial than a sideboard, the name…to be honest…mainly just differentiates the room in which the piece is placed.

In a dining room, a sideboard becomes a buffet, providing storage space for extra linens, china, and serviceware.  In the living room, a sideboard could become several things -  an entryway credenza, offering catch-all drawer space for car keys and cell phones.  Or, an entertainment center - used to display family photos and to store games, cds and videos.  This is especially true in recent years, when advancing television technology has produced larger screens, narrower profiles, and less clunky television bases, making a shorter storage sideboard an attractive and flexible “entertainment unit” solution.  The great thing about sideboards, or buffets, is that (unlike the tv cabinets of old) the sideboard is continually reinventing itself within the home.  The moment you stop placing your tv on top of it, it will look nothing like an entertainment unit. 

A sideboard can be used to store children’s toys and games.  It can be used in the bedroom as a storage space for extra blankets.  With an added hutch, a buffet can become an office bookcase or a sitting room china cabinet.  The great thing to keep in mind with sideboards is that, when built well and with thoughtful design, they can have a long and meaningful life as heirloom pieces, within many rooms of your home and of future generations.

So, that being said…where do you need extra storage or surface space?  Visit our Entertainment and Storage page for inspiration.  But don’t feel limited by the name of any given piece.  Try our Accent Furnishings page as well, and our Dining Room page!  You never know where you’ll spot that perfect solution for your home storage needs…whatever they happen to be at the moment.