Cabinets, consoles and sideboards are often listed together, yet they solve different problems. A wrong choice usually shows up in small ways: a hallway that feels narrow because the piece is too deep, a dining room where serving dishes have nowhere to go, or a living room wall that still looks empty because the piece is too low for its width.
The quickest way to decide is to compare three things: depth, height and what you need to store. This guide sets out the typical dimensions of each piece, the rooms and walls they suit, and the questions to answer before you order.
Three pieces, three jobs
- Console: a narrow, mostly open table placed against a wall. Typically 30–45 cm deep and 75–90 cm high. It holds a lamp, keys, a tray or a few objects; storage is minimal or none.
- Sideboard: a low, long storage piece with doors and/or drawers. Typically 40–50 cm deep, 70–85 cm high and 160–240 cm long. It stores tableware and linen and gives you a serving surface.
- Cabinet: a taller storage piece, usually with doors and shelves. Heights commonly range from about 100 cm to well above 180 cm, depths from 35 to 50 cm. It stores more on less floor area and is often used for glassware, books, bottles or display.
If the main need is a surface, choose a console. If it is closed storage at waist height, choose a sideboard. If floor space is limited and you need volume, go up and choose a cabinet.
Consoles: for passages and narrow walls
A console works where people walk past: entrance halls, corridors, the wall behind a sofa or the space between two doors. Its shallow depth is the reason it fits there. A common rule is to keep at least 90 cm of clear walkway in front of any wall piece, so in a 120 cm corridor there is room only for something around 30 cm deep.
Behind a sofa, a console should usually be level with or slightly lower than the sofa back, so it reads as part of the seating group rather than a separate object. In an entrance, a height of 80–90 cm is comfortable for putting down bags and keys. The Charyton console is one option for this role; you can compare shapes and leg details across our consoles.
Sideboards: for dining rooms and long living room walls
A sideboard is the working piece of a dining room. Its height, typically close to table height or slightly above, makes it a natural serving surface, and the closed compartments keep plates, cutlery and table linen within reach. As a guide, place it at least 90–100 cm from the edge of the dining table so chairs can be pulled out and someone can still walk behind them.
In a living room, a long sideboard anchors a wall that would otherwise hold only art. A useful proportion is a sideboard roughly two-thirds the width of the wall section it stands on, with the artwork above slightly narrower than the sideboard. The Diamante sideboard, shown in the cover photo against a wall panel, is an example of a piece that defines a wall on its own. More models are in the sideboard collection.
Check door and drawer clearance before ordering: hinged doors need roughly their own width of free space in front of them, and drawers need their full depth. This matters in a dining room where the chairs sit close behind.
Cabinets: when you need volume or display
A cabinet uses wall height instead of floor length. That makes it the right choice in compact dining rooms, studies and corners, or where you want to show glassware, books or a collection behind doors. Tall pieces also balance rooms with high ceilings, where a low sideboard alone can leave the upper part of the wall empty.
Two practical points: tall cabinets should be fixed to the wall, and internal shelves are more useful when their spacing matches what you store, around 30–35 cm for glasses and bottles and 25–30 cm for books. Wine and bar storage usually needs deeper shelves than books. See the full range in our cabinets.
Matching the piece to the room
- Entrance hall: a console, 30–40 cm deep, with a mirror or artwork above.
- Corridor: a console only if at least 90 cm of passage remains; otherwise artwork alone.
- Dining room: a sideboard as the main piece; a cabinet if the room is short but has a high ceiling.
- Living room: a sideboard on a long wall, a console behind a free-standing sofa, a cabinet for display beside a window.
- Study or library corner: a cabinet with adjustable shelves.
How people move through a room matters as much as the length of the wall. Our article on how circulation patterns influence furniture placement explains how to map walkways before you choose wall pieces.
Measuring before you order
- Measure the wall width and note sockets, switches, radiators and skirting boards.
- Measure the clear passage that will remain in front of the piece.
- List what will be stored and measure the largest items: serving platters, tall bottles, folders.
- Check the route into the room: door widths, stair turns and lift size.
- Choose doors, drawers or open shelves according to what should stay out of sight.
If a standard model is a few centimetres off, custom dimensions are available on request. Every Sitdesign piece is handmade in our own factory in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul, and wood pieces take 6–8 weeks to produce. Send us your wall measurements, a photo of the room and a note of what you plan to store through our contact page, and we will reply with suitable models, sizes and a quote.
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