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Home Decorate

This key furniture piece will solve your living room storage in a snap

Organic, yet sleek in profile, a sideboard is the perfect surface to display collected pieces PLUS hide the mess of daily life.
Pila American Oak timber buffet sideboard with slatted finish measuring 200cm with Italian Travertine top

Picture this: your living room and dining room are coming together beautifully. You’ve found the perfect dining table and have spent hours arranging cushions on your new sofa in the right combination of size, texture, colour and pattern. You’ve settled on a fabulous artwork to hang and have gathered your platters, napery and dinnerware. But something is… missing. Where to store it all? Where to display your favourite pieces? Enter, the sideboard: an elegant solution that solves your style and storage needs in one sophisticated statement. Very grown up.

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Homeowner, Mieke spent several years gradually sourcing the perfect pieces to add character to her Gold Coast waterfront home. A treasured find is her timber sideboard which, teamed with Boyd Blue prints and a palm lamp from Beacon Lighting, adds a tropical plantation feel. (Credit: Photography: Elouise Van Riet-Gray / Stylist: Lana Caves)

Also called a buffet, there’s a reason the classic sideboard is enjoying a renaissance. Getting the edge on storage is a game changer in living and dining zones. Storage should be affordable and functional, yet discreetly hardworking enough to declutter a space and celebrate your style. Extra points for furnishings that provide a big bang for your buck. Buying a brand-new piece like this is an investment, so do your homework and choose a style you love that will endure and work with other key furniture pieces, such as your dining table or sofa.

Pila American Oak timber buffet sideboard with slatted finish measuring 200cm with Italian Travertine top
Unique in structure, the Pila buffet from OZ Design brings a touch of elegance into your home. Using a captivating slat design, the body is made of solid American Oak timber for a natural look and the top holds beautiful Italian Travertine.

If your budget is limited and you’re prepared to wait, play the long game with regular trips to your local op shop or get online to Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree to hunt for a vintage find. Remember to measure your space to ensure plenty of room for your new sideboard to shine.

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3 tips for styling your sideboard

1. Keep it simple

Edit, edit, edit. Less is more so only display what you love. Group items in threes and opt for different shapes and geometry. Start with your favourite lamp at one end, then include one taller piece, one medium-sized and one smaller object to anchor the arrangement. It helps for items to be relative to the space, eg. a decanter if your buffet is in the dining room.

2. Use a mix of textures

Give the eye something to focus on as it passes over your vignette. A great combination might start with a stack of books or a tray to form a base and corral pieces together, then top with a glass or ceramic vase or textural sculpture – something natural or handmade.

3. Work to a colour palette

Link the colours of the objects you display to one another, as well as something else in the room – perhaps an artwork, cushion or sofa upholstery. This will draw the eye around the room and create a pleasing, cohesive decorative result. Feel free to change it up and rotate your favourite objects with the seasons or with new pieces to keep things interesting.

colourful-dream-home-brisbane-upholstered-dining-chairs-sideboard-art
Form and function. A carefully curated vignette allows the Ken Gilroy artwork to take centre stage in this colourful Brisbane home. (Photography: Hannah Puechmarin / Styling: Ivy & Piper)
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