Large Sideboards

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Large sideboards with room to spare

Choosing a large sideboard for your room

A large sideboard is the longest piece in most rooms after a sofa or a dining table, so the question is less whether it fits and more whether it looks right. Our large sideboards come in two lengths. The Holborn, the Chichester 5ft, the Suffolk 5ft and the Chichester Wide Chest of Drawers sit at 152 to 153cm. The Colworth 6ft and the Chawton sideboards and storage cabinets are 180cm, and the Chichester 6ft and Suffolk 6ft run to 183 and 184cm.

Proportion to the wall is the first thing to judge. A long sideboard looks settled when it covers around two-thirds of the wall it stands against, with clear wall at each end. As a guide, a 150cm sideboard suits a wall of about 2.2m, and a 180cm one a wall of around 2.7m. On a longer wall, an extra-large sideboard of 180cm holds its own where a shorter one would look stranded.

Height changes the character. The Colworth 6ft and the Chawton Sideboard and Double Open sit at 74 to 75cm, so they read long and horizontal, leaving plenty of wall for a large painting or mirror. The Holborn, the Chichester and Suffolk designs and the taller Chawton pieces rise to between 84 and 92cm and carry more presence of their own. Depth stays modest across the range, between 40 and 50cm, so even a wide sideboard of 180cm takes up less than a square metre of floor.

How much a large sideboard will hold

Length is only half of capacity. The other half is how the inside is divided, and our large sideboards are divided in very different ways.

Most drawers: the Chawton Double Storage Cabinet has eight drawers alongside a sliding-door cupboard, and the Chawton Sideboard has six, so candles, chargers, coasters and spare keys each get a place of their own. The Chichester Wide Chest of Drawers has drawers from end to end.
Drawers and cupboards together: the Chichester and Suffolk sideboards, in both 5ft and 6ft, put drawers at the top and adjustable shelves behind cupboard doors below. The Chawton Tall Double pairs its sliding doors with two slim drawers.
Tall cupboard space: each of the Holborn’s two compartments measures 72.5cm wide, 32.5cm deep and 66cm high, room for stacked platters, jugs or bottles standing upright. The Colworth 6ft spreads its storage behind three doors.
Shelves on view: the Chawton Double Open and the Double Storage Cabinet with Shelves keep their shelves open for the things you want to see every day, from glassware to a row of cookbooks. The cabinet with shelves adds two drawers above.

Large sideboards FAQ's

Let the wall decide first, then what you need to store. Our 5ft designs are 152 to 153cm long, and our 6ft designs are 180 to 184cm, so the step-up adds around 30cm. If the 6ft would cover much more than two-thirds of the wall, the 5ft will look better, however much you want the extra room. Then look inside, because each design uses the extra length differently. The Chichester 6ft keeps the same two drawers and two shelves as the 5ft, just wider. The Suffolk changes: the 5ft has three drawers over three shelves, while the 6ft has two wider drawers over four, so the 5ft suits you better if drawer space matters most. Before you decide, mark both lengths on the wall with masking tape.

Often, yes, and it can make the room look calmer than two smaller pieces would. A single wide sideboard reads as one shape along a wall, whereas two short pieces break the wall into sections. Depth is what matters in a smaller room, so look first at the Holborn, which is 152cm long but only 40cm deep. Keep to the two-thirds guide for length and let depth do the saving: a shallow sideboard that suits the wall takes far less from the room than its length suggests. If the room is truly short on space, measure the clear floor you need to walk past before you look at length.

Yes, and the Chichester Wide Chest of Drawers is designed with that in mind. It is the largest chest of drawers in our range, 153cm wide, and it works in a dining room, sitting room, or bedroom. Compared with the Chichester 5ft Sideboard, which is the same width, it trades cupboards for drawers, in three sizes for anything from table linen to pots and pans. It also stands 92cm high against the sideboard’s 87cm. Choose it if most of what you store is flat or small and you would rather open a drawer than kneel at a cupboard. Choose the sideboard if you need space for tall jugs or bottles.

The usual rule is to keep it a little shorter than the table, so the sideboard frames the table rather than competing with it. As a guide, a 150cm sideboard sits well alongside a table of around 180cm, and a 180cm sideboard suits a table of 200cm or longer. Centre the sideboard on the table so the two read as a pair. Then leave at least 90cm between the edge of the table and the front of the sideboard, so chairs can be pushed back and cupboard doors opened while people are seated. The Chichester and Suffolk sideboards stand at 87cm, which puts dishes set out on top at a comfortable height to serve from without stooping.