Secondhand Sideboard Styling
There is an abundance of beautiful things you can buy to adorn your home and create a joyful space that reflects your style and personality. But in a cost of living crisis it’s hard to imagine many people are feeling comfortable about prioritising spending in this area over the necessities of life. So, when it came to styling a sideboard in our own home, we felt it was the perfect opportunity to do this in a cost effective and sustainable way that might inspire others to do the same. As it is a white sideboard we truly were working with a blank canvas. The only item on display is my husband’s prized record player, but half of the sideboard was home to whatever odds and sods landed on it. We decided to make a challenge of this task, so James and I gave ourselves a $50 budget each to style the half of the sideboard which was bare. We came at the challenge quite differently. I intensively studied “How to Style a Sideboard” online and came to the task with clear thoughts on what I wanted to find. Something tall, possibly a vase or lamp, with some books to add colour and a simple, beautiful item to complete the picture. What I had forgotten was that heading to thrift stores with a clear idea of what you want to find can make for a disastrous shopping trip, because when thrifting you truly don’t know what you will find.
Anji’s Sideboard Styling
James approached the task with a considerably more relaxed attitude, and his many hours spent in op shops around town gave him a certain swagger as we went from shop to shop he started gathering his eclectic range of items. As I could not find the vase or lamp of my dreams (or any lamp for that matter), I decided to change strategies and be led by colour. There is always a good range of books at op shops, and whilst the book jacket might be a little raggedy, by removing this and exposing the hard cover beneath you will often find colour, texture and a good font on the spine. With four housey related books in my arms, the colour palette had been established. It was then a search for a vase to mirror the colours of the books (I struck gold at Vinnies in Newtown), and then Salvation Army in Miramar provided a wooden bowl with plenty of texture plus a big red beaded necklace to add a pop of colour. Some flowers from our garden completed the picture with $14 to spare!
James’ Sideboard Styling
Most annoyingly, James’s unplanned strategy paid dividends with a great array of items which surprisingly came together with a cohesive finesse on the sideboard. Our common theme was picking up on colour, and books were our heros which led the colour palette decisions. For James, a green book with an orange book guided his further decisions and he came in at $41 for his curated gathering of items. So, what did we learn in the process?
Remove book jackets off hard cover books to reveal the colour and texture beneath
Stacking books, either vertically or horizontally provides a great platform
On a long surface such as a sideboard, having some height gives balance
Look for collections of similar materials that you can group together ie, glassware, silver, brass or pottery
Get creative with accents ie. my red beaded necklace
Find a hero item that you can build around
Try to go in with an open mind rather than being too fixed on what you’re searching for
Less is more. You don’t need a lot of items to create a pleasing vignette
Plants or flowers bring life to an area
In the end I think we were both pretty chuffed with our findings, and even more chuffed when we worked out that our items combined also worked really well. So for a total spend of $77 we have now sustainably styled the sideboard!