5 Ways To Find The Perfect Sideboard. On 5 different budgets.

If you're anything like me, not much else will fit in your kitchen cupboards. And doesn't everyone have 'The Kitchen Drawer'? The Kitchen Drawer is definitely a thing. An irreplaceable resource for useless elastic bands, pens that don't work, single plasters, random business cards and odd keys that you have no idea what they're for. My husband regularly tells me, ''we (we???) should go through these cupboards....there's probably things in here we don't need anymore". I know he's right. But I can't control my maternal/hoarding instinct. I need it ALL, Martin. What he doesn't really get is that actually, I just need a bigger kitchen to keep it all in. Or alternatively, I would settle for a new sideboard. As this is probably the more likely of the two options, I decide to research this possibility further.

1. IKEA

Whenever I think about storage solutions I think of IKEA. Literally the world's largest seller of furniture globally in the early 21st centaury. Leaders of the flat-pack revolution. And purveyors of the finest Swedish meatballs ever, served with jam. Some may scoff at IKEA, but personally, I love them. I understand I'm going to have to get down on my hands and knees and build my purchase myself, but honestly, I don't mind. We have IKEA furniture in our house that's well over 10 years old and is still going strong. Don't knock it.

And, if I was happy to forgo the meatballs, I could shop from my sofa and have my new sideboard delivered. If you hop on to IKEA's website and search 'sideboards' 574 products will pop up starting from £70. They have all style bases covered and with a budget of around £300 you could very comfortably find something to fit the bill, and probably have some change. Not only that, but you could potentially have the most organised sideboard money can buy. Don't leave the site without checking out their kitchen storage and organisation section. You won't regret it. UPPDATERA is the perfect in-draw, peg board style holding system for all my kitchen tut. And the VARIERA shelf insert, available in 5 different sizes, will mean I can double the storage capacity of my cupboards. Brilliant.

2. The Range

This bricks and clicks retailing giant opened its first store in 1989, on Billacombe Road, Plymouth. Since then The Range has become the fastest growing retailer in the UK. With over 200 stores nationwide. They stock more than 140,000 products across 16 different departments, from Homewares and Furniture to DIY and Art Supplies. This means, I can buy my new sideboard, plus a multi-pack of glitter and a 3-pack of tea-towels all in one shop - who doesn't want to do that?

Your online sideboards search will bring up 447 results, again covering a wide range of styles and designs and similar kinds of budgets to IKEA too. Although I'd say the bulk of the options are £200 and under. Some quirky little Scandi style numbers which I quite liked, but the one that really caught my eye was the colour changing Ouverte Grey light up one! How cool is that? A hidden rear LED lighting strip means it washes the wall directly above in a warm glow of light. Or even hot pink light. Or green, which ever takes your fancy.

It uses the Frank Olsen App on your phone or voice command to run you through a full spectrum of colours. It is flat packed, but it smart clicks together apparently and at £280 I think that's a bargain.

3. The Independents

If you're comfortable pushing the budget, the next option is to get off the sofa, switch off the computer and hit the high street. Smaller independents are the best place to find individual and unusual pieces. Anyone can buy IKEA's Besta range sideboard they probably feature in thousands of stylish UK homes. However, not everyone can find the Cattelan Itaila can they? One sunny Wednesday morning I took myself off to my beloved local furniture store, Lenley's. If anyone was going to have my new sideboard it would be my Lenley's. It's a haven of beautiful and coordinated things. I would live there permanently if they'd have me. Today was no exception. It did not disappoint. As I swept my way around the store picking out (and surreptitiously photographing) my favourites, I realised what a multitude of functions as well as form these gorgeous statement pieces could deliver. I've underestimate the power of a sideboard my whole life.

Not only can you hoard away even more kitchen treasures/tut inside them, you can display things on them, above them and all around them. This becomes clearly evident as you walk around Lenley's with their cunningly styled displays. You won't ever see a bunch of random, plonked furniture or sideboards in this store (unless you're in my husband's favourite - the clearance section). My visit confirmed there's no substitute for real physical shopping. Sometimes you absolutely do just need to see, feel, touch things and be inspired.

Putting things in context

Each sideboard stands proudly in its own coordinated set up. These guys will take you on a mini themed show homes tour. Cattelan Italia aka Glitzy sideboard stands alongside its other glitzy friends like, 'glossy polished dining table' and 'velvet high back dining chairs'. Behind glitzy sideboard is strong, bold, metallic wallpaper and a rather eye-catching, equally bold, metallic piece of wall art. Not forgetting 'gorgeous accessory ensemble' which are strategically placed on top of glitzy sideboard. 'Gorgeous accessory ensemble' twinkle and wink at you under their warm white overhead lighting. Glitzy sideboard is clearly amongst friends. Glitzy sideboard sits firmly in context.

Now, not only do I want to buy glitzy sideboard, I want to buy all of glitzy sideboard's friends too. I NEED them. They all look so good together. How can you possibly have one without the other? Oh dear Lenley's you are too good. My mind and budget are both officially blown.

However, the sending of a well taken picture of Glitzy sideboard straight to my husband does help me get a grip. At £3,935 in the sale, he points out I could probably get a small kitchen extension for the same price. Fair. So unfortunately, for me, I have to walk away, but for those of you who have deeper pockets and are looking for stunning investment pieces I can highly recommend a trip to Lenley's.

4. The Bespoke Option

And staying with bigger budgets for option 4 The Bespoke Option, don't miss these guys - OMG. Studio Twenty Seven are luxury upcyclers of bespoke vintage furniture. And they're seriously cool. Put one of these beauties in the room and it will totally set the tone.

Works of art in themselves they are the most brilliant examples of form and function I've seen in a long while. Based in the leafy lanes of Essex but only 30 minutes from London, they have a dedicated studio where this magic happens. You can buy one-off original pieces online, but personally I'd opt for the full '27 Experience' and commission my own.

Find that single image or inspirational piece of artwork, let them source a suitable furniture unit for you and begin creating your completely bespoke design. Once you approve your design on paper, they will get to work and will keep you fully up to date on the transformation process sending you regular video updates along the way. When your unit is finished, they'll send final pictures for your approval and a few days later your new and completely unique piece will arrive in your home. Currently their timeline for bespoke orders is around 10-13 weeks. So worth the wait though.

5. Have a go yourself

If this upcycling idea inspires you, but your budget doesn't quite stretch here's my final suggestion. DIY it. You can do it. If's not hard, it just takes flippin' ages. But if time is on your side, I do recommend having a go at furniture painting yourself.

It means you can choose the perfect colour to work in your room. You can change the style of a standard piece of furniture by adding legs, fancy knobs and finishes. IKEA KALLAX never looked so good. And my mid-century Nathan furniture hasn't either. We found these pieces at a local second hand furniture shop. I wanted the whole set - sideboard, cupboards and coffee table. Happy wife - happy life. Husband got a deal. Everyone's a winner.

Transforming them took me about a week, on and off. It's one of those jobs that you do have to dip in and out of, partly because things need to dry between coats and partly because TBH I found it quite boring!

Basically, the process goes - sugar soap, sand, prime, paint. Paint again. Paint again. Mine had about three coats. You Tube it. There are some real experts out there who will properly fill you in on the best way to do it.

Eventually you end up with this....TAH-DAH!!!!

But you do loose a week of your life. Or alternatively our friends at Studio Twenty Seven will take you under her wing at one of their workshops. These are an investment in themselves though at £850 a pop. So I think I'd only recommend these if you're really looking to turn furniture upcycling pro. There are other local workshop options if you'd prefer some face-to-face learning. Google it. If you're local to me in Ashford Kent - try Nest Studio. They offer workshops and one-to-one time with their experts to undertake a small project together.

So in summary...

My quest for my new sideboard, continues....there are plenty of cheap quick fix sideboard options online if you know exactly the style you're after. If you want further inspiration there's no substitute for a trip down the High Street. And if you're after something really special and unique - upcycling is the way to go this can upgrade High Street to proper High End whether you do the work yourself or get someone else to do it for you.

Whichever way you go I bet you'll still order yourself an UPPDATERA and a VARIERA from IKEA. I know I will. They'll sort my Kitchen Drawer problem right out! In my next blog post I'm going to take a closer look at how you make your final purchasing decision, how important seeing things in context is and how we might be able to help. Subscribe if you fancy being one of the first to know and let me know your comments or how you get on down below. Happy shopping.

Sarah xx