The quickest way to decide between a sideboard and a shelving unit is to look at the room rather than the furniture. Dining rooms and long living rooms usually suit sideboards. Small lounges, alcoves, home offices and open plan zones usually suit shelving units. Hallways and bedrooms depend on how much depth you can spare and whether you want to hide or display.
Below we go room by room through a typical British home. If you are already drawn to closed storage, our modern sideboards UK sale collection covers a wide range of lengths and finishes, and the wider living room furniture UK range shows how they sit with sofas and tables.
A sideboard is a low, long cabinet with doors, drawers or both. It hides what it holds and gives you a broad top surface. A shelving unit is an open, usually taller frame that displays what it holds and uses wall height rather than floor length.
That difference in shape means each piece suits different room proportions. Long, clear walls invite sideboards. Narrow walls, alcoves and corners invite shelving.
Living rooms ask the most of storage. They need to hold media equipment, books, games, throws and everyday clutter while still looking calm.
In a long through lounge, common in terraced houses where two rooms have been knocked together, a sideboard along one wall provides valuable hidden storage and breaks up the length of the room. A lamp at one end and art above it create a natural focal point away from the television.
In a compact living room, such as those in many flats and new builds, a shelving unit often works better. It takes up less floor area, keeps the room open and gives you a display space for books and plants. A unit with a closed base offers some hidden storage too.
In rooms with chimney breast alcoves, shelving units fit naturally either side. A low sideboard can then run beneath the window or along another wall if you need concealed storage as well.
If your living room sideboard will sit near a TV, think about heights. A sideboard that is noticeably taller or lower than the TV unit looks deliberate, while two pieces at nearly the same height can look as though they were meant to match and narrowly missed.
The dining room is the traditional home of the sideboard, and for good reason. Table linen, placemats, serving dishes, candles and glassware all need a home close to the table. A sideboard keeps them behind doors and gives you a surface for serving food or setting out drinks when guests visit.
Allow at least 90cm between the edge of the dining table and the front of the sideboard so chairs can be pulled out and doors opened comfortably. In a smaller dining area, a shallow sideboard of around 35 to 40cm deep can make all the difference.
A shelving unit can still play a part, perhaps in an alcove to display glassware or cookbooks. If you prefer to show off your good china while keeping it protected from dust, a glazed piece from our display cabinets UK sits between the two options.
Open plan spaces are where shelving units really earn their keep. An open backed unit placed at right angles to a wall can divide a living zone from a dining zone without blocking light or sightlines. It gives each area a sense of enclosure while keeping the space connected.
A sideboard works well along a wall in the dining zone, linking it to the kitchen, or behind a sofa that faces away from the dining table. In this position the sideboard top becomes a useful landing spot for lamps and books.
Many open plan homes use both: a sideboard to anchor the dining area and a shelving unit to define the edge of the lounge. Keeping materials consistent ties the zones together.
Hallways in British homes are often narrow, particularly in terraced and semi detached houses. Depth is the limiting factor. Anything deeper than around 30cm can make a narrow hall feel tight and may obstruct the route to the front door.
A slim sideboard or console style cabinet works well if you want to hide keys, post, gloves and dog leads. Its top surface gives you somewhere to drop things as you come in. A shallow shelving unit suits a wider hall or the space under the stairs, where it can hold baskets for shoes and hats.
Whichever you choose, keep the escape route clear and fix taller units securely to the wall.
In bedrooms, the question is often whether you want storage to feel restful or personal. A low sideboard style cabinet keeps clothes, bedding and personal items out of sight, which suits anyone who finds visual clutter distracting before sleep. The top can hold a mirror, a lamp and a few favourite objects.
A shelving unit brings personality to a bedroom, especially for readers. Lower units work better than tall ones near the bed, as they feel less imposing. In children’s rooms, open shelving makes books and toys easy to reach and tidy away.
For home offices, shelving units are usually the more practical choice. Box files, reference books, printers and storage boxes all fit comfortably on open shelves, and everything stays within reach of the desk. Adjustable shelves let you adapt as your work changes.
A sideboard can still be useful, particularly if your office doubles as a spare room or sits in the corner of a living space. Closing doors on paperwork at the end of the day helps separate work from home life. Our modern shelving units UK include both open and part closed designs suited to home working.
Many British homes have spaces that do not fit neatly into a category: a loft conversion with sloping ceilings, a wide landing, a box room or the area under the stairs. These are often where storage decisions matter most, because standard furniture can be hard to place.
Under sloping ceilings, low pieces are usually the answer. A long, low sideboard can run along the short wall of a loft room, giving you storage and a surface without hitting the slope. Low shelving units of around 80 to 100cm tall work in the same position and suit books and baskets.
On wide landings, a shallow shelving unit can turn a passing space into a small library or display area. Keep depth modest so the route to bedrooms and the bathroom stays clear, especially at night.
Box rooms used as nurseries or studies tend to benefit from shelving because it keeps the floor free. A slim sideboard can work if you need closed storage for bedding, paperwork or baby essentials.
Storage changes the feel of a room as well as its function. A sideboard brings a sense of order and calm because its contents are hidden and its outline is simple. That makes it a good fit for rooms where you want to relax, entertain or sleep.
A shelving unit brings personality. Books, ceramics, photographs and plants tell visitors something about the people who live there. In rooms that feel plain or new, such as a recently built home with few period details, a well styled shelving unit adds the character that architecture might lack.
Think about the mood you want each room to have, and let that guide your choice as much as the measurements.
Pairing a sideboard and a shelving unit in the same room often gives the best of both. The sideboard handles practical storage while the shelving unit takes care of display. Choose pieces with a clear difference in height and a shared material or colour so they feel related.
A long sideboard beneath a window with tall shelving in the alcoves either side is a classic arrangement in period homes. In modern rooms, a low sideboard paired with a slim metal and wood shelving unit gives a balanced, contemporary look. Where a TV is part of the arrangement, our guide to matching TV units with sideboards in UK living rooms covers heights and finishes in detail. If your living room includes a corner sofa, our guide to coordinating corner sofas with sideboards in UK homes explains how to balance the two.
You can explore sideboards, shelving and storage across every room at Furniture in Fashion, with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes.
Yes. Sideboards are widely used in living rooms for media, games and general storage, and the top makes a useful display surface.
Look for sideboards around 35 to 40cm deep. They offer useful storage without projecting too far into the room.
An open backed shelving unit is one of the simplest ways to zone an open plan space while keeping light flowing through.
They do not need to match exactly. Sharing one material, colour or style detail is enough to make them feel connected.
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