One of the biggest joys of being a homeowner (or renter!) is entertaining guests in your space. Dinner parties and game nights often revolve around the dining table, but that’s not the only piece of furniture you may need. A well-positioned sideboard or buffet can make serving snacks and dishing up much easier in a busy, guest-filled room. It also provides another surface for decorative lighting and party decor.
What’s the Difference Between a Buffet, a Server, and a Sideboard?
A dining room server is a traditional piece of furniture used for serving meals away from the table. It usually stands on tall legs for easy access to the food and doesn’t always have storage space. On the other hand, a sideboard table is all about the storage. It’s essentially a decorative cabinet for keeping china, cutlery, wine, decor, and anything else you might need on hand during a dinner party.
A buffet table combines the best of servers and sideboards — it has cabinets for storage and a spacious serving surface on tall legs.
Our Top 5 Sideboards and Buffets for Entertaining
Best Rustic Style: Monticello Server
Part of our hand-finished Monticello collection, the Monticello Server offers a fresh, natural style for entertaining in a farmhouse dining room or kitchen. This buffet is made from hardy Acacia wood and provides ample closed cupboard and drawer storage for your crockery and cutlery. This beautiful and elegant piece also has open shelving for easy access to condiments, napkins, and a mini-wine rack. Snacks, hors d’oeuvres, sides, salads, and delicious desserts will all fit comfortably on this cabinet’s wide server top.
Best Modern Style: Triangle Server
For newlyweds and those entertaining in their homes for the first time, look no further than the Triangle Server.
One of our favorite things about the Triangle Server is that it offers two shelves for easy access to your most-used dishes. This sleek, modern piece is stylish and has all the necessary components. Place your wine collection in the central rack and use the side cabinets for entertaining storage.
Best for Indoors and Outdoors: Cassidy/Sundance Server
The Cassidy/Sundance Server’s multitonal facings in oak, acacia, and rubberwood add warmth and texture to any dining room or outdoor living area. Substantial closed and open storage space includes two cupboards, two drawers, and two shelves to house your crockery, cutlery, and silverware.
If you’re shopping for dining furniture on a budget, this spacious sideboard offers unbeatable value for your money. Handy shelving can showcase plants, fruit, or décor while the expansive server top can accommodate friends and a family-sized selection of snacks, sides, and desserts.
Best for Contemporary Dining Rooms: Port Arthur Server
Part of our very functional and versatile Port Arthur dining collection, the equally versatile Port Arthur Server is manufactured from pine in a stylishly modern stone wash. It’s a contemporary buffet table with enough storage space for daily and special crockery, cutlery, napkins, décor, and cookbooks. It features two closed cupboards, two drawers, and convenient open shelving with a built-in secret compartment for storing your dining table leaves away from view. You’ll be the envy of your guests with this modish and practical piece.
Best Glass Display: Magnolia Hutch & Buffet
The timelessly classic Magnolia Hutch & Buffet server cabinet has a unique and charming old-world style that adds meaningful ambiance to any entertainment area. It also provides significant practical storage for all your dining and entertainment needs.
Two closed cupboards keep your crockery and accessories locked away while you display the treasured china on the shelves above. Alternatively, you can use it to keep the dust and sticky hands off your cookbooks, glassware, family photos, candles, and other delicate knickknacks.
Creative Ways to Use a Kitchen Sideboard or Buffet Cabinet
If you’ve never owned one, you may not know how to choose, place, and style a dining room buffet. They typically go against a wall and out of the way but can also act as interesting space dividers during dinner parties. You can use a sideboard cabinet as a room divider, allowing guests to access it from both sides to make it more functional.
Buffets also make wonderful bar stations to serve cocktails and hors d’oeuvres before the main meal. No matter which dining room trends you follow, well-decorated rooms almost always capitalize on servers as a decorative element to complement mirrors, wall art, and lamps.
Find Your New Dining Room Cabinet at Home Zone Furniture
Home Zone has stores across Texas offering quality, affordable styles for everyone. Whether you need buffet furniture for entertaining or an entire dining room suite, you can find what you’re looking for among our fresh and trendy collections.
Feel free to contact us should you have any questions about our range or how to style it. You can also follow our blog for handy furniture-related and interior design hints and tips.
