Advice on Sideboard design

[David Huston]

My wife wants a sideboard/buffet for our dining area. I have a first draft and I would love some opinions on it. The area it will go in is between a run of cabinets and a closet wall. The width of the piece will be around 46 inches wide and around 38 inches tall. Most likely going to try an get a remnant piece of granite for the top. Going to use some bun feet on the bottom. My main concern is the doors. The doors will be glass but I end up with very narrow but tall doors. That is with 4 doors. I would go with only two doors but that would have a roughly 17 by 27 inch piece of glass in each door. That would look a lot better but I am concerned about safety. I have three boys under 5 years old! Would a tempered piece of glass that size be okay? Here is a sketchup drawing that i did. Please give me any advice that you want. It will be painted if that helps.

Thank you

buffett 2.jpg

[Mel Fulks]

The bigger glass would be ok,but the vertical look of the drawing is better. Your design is more console than sideboard. Longer legs would make it a sideboard and shorten the doors.

[Dave Richards]

Another thing you could do is make two doors but divide the glass with a vertical divider.


Another thing you might consider is shortening the doors and adding a couple of drawers at the top. Silverware and candles need to be stored somewhere.

[Rob Feldner]

There are any number of ways you could go design wise. As far as safety, you could use glazing stops on the inside of the doors, use some sort of plexiglass for the time being, and once the kids are bigger put in glass.