My sister rang me last month in a flap because she’d bought a sideboard online without measuring the wall first. It arrived, she wedged it into the dining room, and suddenly the door wouldn’t open past 90 degrees. Classic mistake. A small black sideboard is one of the easiest ways to add real storage to a dining room, hallway or living area — but only if you go through it properly, step by step, before the delivery van shows up.
This is exactly how I’d talk a friend through buying and setting up something like the Sideboard Black 60x35x70 cm Storage Cabinet — a compact engineered wood buffet that’s become a bit of a favourite for smaller Melbourne terraces and units.
Step 1: Measure the space, not the furniture
Everyone measures the sideboard. Almost nobody measures the room properly. Before you buy a small black sideboard, grab a tape measure and check three things:
- The wall width, plus at least 15 cm clearance on each side so it doesn’t look jammed into a corner.
- Door and drawer swing — for a 60 cm wide unit like this one, allow roughly 45 cm in front for the doors to open fully.
- Ceiling-to-artwork clearance if you’re planning to hang anything above it. At 70 cm tall, this size sits comfortably under most existing wall art without needing to rehang anything.
At 60 x 35 x 70 cm, this is genuinely one of the smaller sideboards on the market, which is the whole point — it’s built for hallways, narrow dining rooms and rental units where a full-size buffet just won’t fit.
Step 2: Check what’s actually going inside it
A common mistake is buying based on looks alone, then realising the shelves are too shallow for what you own. Before ordering, do a quick inventory:
- Dinner sets and serving platters — most standard 27 cm dinner plates will sit flat on a 35 cm deep shelf.
- Table linen, placemats and coasters — these fold flat and stack easily behind cabinet doors.
- Odds and ends like remote controls, chargers, board games — if this is going in a living room rather than a dining room, it doubles as a low-profile TV console or entryway catch-all.
If you need more shelf space or open display area for cookbooks and serving bowls, it’s worth comparing this against something like the Rustic Wooden Highboard Buffet Cabinet, which is taller at 70 cm+ and includes open shelving up top for things you want to grab quickly rather than dig for.
Step 3: Assembly — what actually takes time
Engineered wood flat-pack furniture is generally straightforward, but a few things trip people up:
- Do it on a rug or blanket. The black finish shows scratches more than lighter colours, so protect the panels while you’re working on them.
- Two people for the carcass, one for the doors. The main box is light enough for one person, but holding panels square while screwing them together is much easier with a second set of hands.
- Leave hinges slightly loose until the doors are hung. Fully tightening screws before both hinges are in place is the most common reason doors end up sitting crooked.
- Budget 40-60 minutes for a unit this size if you’re following the instructions in order rather than guessing.
Cam locks and dowels are standard on this kind of buffet furniture, so you won’t need anything beyond a Phillips head screwdriver — most kits include an allen key for the rest.
Step 4: Placement — where it actually earns its keep
Black furniture reads differently depending on light and wall colour. A few placement notes from experience:
- Against a white or pale grey wall, a black sideboard becomes a natural anchor point — it grounds the room without needing extra decor.
- In darker or heavily timbered rooms, it can disappear visually. Adding a table lamp or a woven basket on top helps it read as a feature rather than a shadow.
- Hallways with black hardware (door handles, light switches) pair particularly well — it stops the sideboard looking like an odd addition.
If your room leans lighter and you’d rather the piece blend in than stand out, the Modern White Sideboard Storage Cabinet is worth a look — same practical footprint, completely different visual weight in the room.
Step 5: Styling the top without cluttering it
A 60 cm top isn’t huge, so restraint matters. What works well:
- One taller item (a lamp, a vase, a framed print leaning against the wall) to give it height.
- One low, wide item (a bowl, a tray with keys and mail) for function.
- Leave at least a third of the surface empty. A fully styled top on a small sideboard just looks busy.
Rotate what’s on top seasonally rather than adding more — a small sideboard holds its visual balance better with three items than with eight.
Looking after the finish
Engineered wood with a black laminate or painted finish is low-maintenance but not indestructible. A damp microfibre cloth handles daily dust and fingerprints. Avoid abrasive cleaners or anything with ammonia, as they can dull the sheen over time. Use felt pads under anything with a rough base (ceramic vases, cast iron trays) to stop scuff marks building up on the top surface.
If you’ve got the space constraints my sister didn’t check for, a compact black buffet like this one solves the actual problem — proper storage without eating the room. Measure twice, assemble with a mate, and it’ll earn its spot for years rather than becoming the thing you’re trying to sell on Marketplace in six months.