BH | Studio Stamford Slatted 4-Door Sideboard

The sideboard took its place in the dining room in the late eighteenth century, when English cabinetmakers gave the serving table drawers and cupboards so that plates, linen and silver could live where they were used. By the mid-twentieth century it had grown long and low, and it soon moved into the living room as well, carrying the record player and, later, the television.

This one is a long, low case on a recessed plinth. Four doors are faced in close horizontal slats that throw fine lines of shadow, and there are no handles to catch a hip: press a door and it springs open, then soft-close hinges ease it shut without a bang. Behind them, adjustable shelves move to fit dinner plates or box files, and four holes in the back let cables run through to a television, speaker or lamp, so cords stay out of sight. The frame is engineered wood with a laminate wood-grain surface in Hazel or Almond. It needs assembly.

In a dining room it works as a buffet, holding the good plates and table linen, with a pair of lamps and a bowl of fruit on top for a dinner party. In a living room it becomes a media cabinet beneath a wall-mounted television, or one firmly secured on top, and in a home office it makes a fine credenza. Wood grain and slatted fronts suit a mid-century house: style it with a ceramic lamp, a row of art books, a trailing pothos and a large abstract canvas leaning against the wall above.