Once upon a time the sideboard was a storage place for the best service and was placed in the dining room. Nowadays it is a must-have piece of furniture in the sitting room in all retro homes.

There is something sophisticated about a sideboard. Something appealing that makes people neglect the Swedish Handicrafts Association’s warning words in the book Furniture Advice from 1961 “A long sideboard requiring a lot of space hardly ever has room for even one service”. And the whole point is that it should be long. Long, low and of some exotic wood. A glamorous piece of furniture for storage, related to the slightly more domestic and solid coffers and chests. The word sideboard has been around since the 18th century, as a table or cupboard that was placed next to the dining table.

The sideboards of the 50s and 60s held wedding presents: the best service, crystal glasses and, naturally, nickel silver that needed to be kept in boxes lined with green felt. A couple of candlesticks and a flower vase were placed on top of it. The vase caused water rings if the teak top had not been waxed adequately.

Sideboards disappeared from the furniture catalogues in the 70s when wedding presents and dining rooms were no longer fashionable, and when they turned up on the second-hand markets in the 90s, they appeared in sitting rooms, because the stereo and LPs needed some room. That is why some of them have holes for cables and ventilation at the back. Such vandalism is out of the question nowadays, when once again a stylish home isn't complete without a sideboard. What is kept in it is no longer so important. However, what is important is what flea market finds are displayed on it, for the sideboard has become something of a temple for retro lovers.

BY VIVECA CARLSSON

scandinavianretro.com