Portobello Large Antique Sideboard — In Russet with Jet

Anyone who has spent a morning on Portobello Road knows the moment: past the silver and the old maps, a big painted cabinet stops you, and you start picturing it in your dining room, holding the good china. This sideboard is a find like that. It is a true antique, brought back into working order, with cupboards for the china and room on top to lay out a meal.

Behind its pairs of doors, each cupboard has a shelf, so there is room for serving dishes on one level and glassware on the other. As an antique, each piece varies in size and detail, so the measurements given are a guide. The frame is reclaimed timber, finished in a warm, deep orange distressed at the edges under a black top, and the long top, close to seven feet wide, takes a lamp at each end with room between them for a row of platters.

Give it the main wall of a dining room, with the platters and a centrepiece on top, or use it in a living room as a broad base for art and books, with games and blankets stored inside. Its colour also brings warmth to a quiet entry or a long hallway. This listing is for one antique sideboard.