A good sideboard is the hardest working piece in a dining room, and you don’t have to pay designer prices for one. These 17 DIY sideboard ideas come in three flavors. Some are full builds from free plans, like a shaker style buffet or a planked farmhouse sideboard. Others are IKEA hacks that dress up a plain cabinet with hairpin legs, brass inlay or tall oak legs. The rest are makeovers that rescue a tired thrift store or hand me down buffet with paint, stain and new hardware. Use one as a buffet for holiday dinners, a media console, an entry table or even a changing table. Measure your wall twice, check the depth against your walkway, and pick the style that fits your home!
1. Simple Modern Farmhouse Sideboard Buffet
This simple modern farmhouse sideboard buffet comes with free plans and is easy enough for a novice woodworker. It was built to fill a blank dining room wall, so it is a big piece with plenty of storage for extra dinnerware and craft supplies. Shaker style doors on each end flank a center stack of three drawers. Paint it white and finish with simple matte black hardware for a crisp, clean look. Because it is built rather than bought, you can stretch or shrink the plan to suit your own wall.
Get the full tutorial at Nick + Alicia.
2. DIY Box Sideboard
A DIY box sideboard is one of the quickest builds here, done in an afternoon with wood glue and four store bought legs. Cut two value pine shelves into four pieces, two at 40 cm (15 inches) and two at 50 cm (19 inches). Screw the leg fitting plates onto one of the longer boards about 1 cm in from the sides so they stay hidden, using the better face as the bottom. Screw in the legs, then glue the other three boards on to form the open box. Wood glue sets in about 30 minutes, so styling can start right away.
Get the full tutorial at Fall For DIY.
3. DIY Tribal Sideboard
This DIY tribal sideboard started as a tired secondhand piece and was rebuilt down to its solid pine frame. Pry off the old doors, drawers, runners and warped side panels, clean the frame of nails and glue and sand it smooth. New plywood panels go on the sides, and full height doors replace the old drawer fronts for a cleaner look. Stain the doors, lay them side by side and roll white acrylic through an all over tribal batik stencil with a small foam roller, using the stencil’s register marks to line up each pass. A clear varnish seals it all.
Get the full tutorial at The Painted Hive.
4. Gigantic Planked Sideboard
The gigantic planked sideboard is a reader build of a free planked wood sideboard plan, sized to fill a big blank wall under a vaulted ceiling. It was the builder’s very first piece of furniture from a plan, which says a lot about how approachable it is. Planked doors and drawer fronts give it farmhouse texture, and the whole cabinet is finished in milk paint and paste wax. Close up it shows a few imperfections, but a rustic finish forgives them. Follow the free plan for cut lists and steps, and size it to your own wall.
Get the full tutorial at Ana White.
5. Easy DIY Sideboard Cabinet
This easy DIY sideboard cabinet has a slim footprint but packs in serious storage. Free plans include a tools list, materials and a cut list. Budget about $165 and three work days. The cuts are simple, but the full overlay doors and drawer fronts take patience to line up, which is why the plan rates it difficult. A clever spacing trick in the plans helps doors and drawers sit evenly. Use it as a sideboard in a dining room, a dresser in a bedroom or a storage console by the front door.
Get the full tutorial at Build Basic.
6. Vintage Buffet
This vintage buffet makeover takes an inherited green piece with a brown faux glaze and gives it a glam update. Paint it a deep nautical navy (the color here is Martha Stewart Wrought Iron) to cover the old finish completely. Then the hardware does the heavy lifting: brushed gold ring pulls on the doors and sleek gold bar pulls on the drawers. A length of unfinished ikat fabric works as a runner on top. Keep the matching china cabinet if there is one, and the buffet carries a family story into a fresh room.
Get the full tutorial at Pencil Shavings Studio.
7. Mid Century Modern Ikea Hack Sideboard
This mid century modern IKEA hack sideboard copies a $1,300 West Elm piece for about a third of the price. Build the IKEA sideboard but skip its legs. Mark the holes for four 8 inch brass hairpin legs with a paint pen, drill starter holes and screw the legs on, using screws short enough not to poke through. Lay out a geometric pattern on the doors with thin patterning tape. Cut brass strips to length with tin snips and glue them along the tape lines with super glue gel. No tricky cuts or woodworking skills needed.
Get the full tutorial at Kristi Murphy.
8. DIY Sideboard Cabinet
This DIY sideboard cabinet is a full woodworking build in two parts, and this page is part two: drawers, top, doors, finish and hardware. The drawers are made from 3/4 inch plywood and mounted on full extension slides. The hardwood top gets deep kerfs cut on the underside to flatten a stubborn board, then is glued up, cut to size and finished with three coats of satin spar urethane. Cove trim dresses up the plain side panels, pocket holes inside get wood plugs, and three coats of paint go on with a foam roller and brush.
Get the full tutorial at Fix This Build That.
9. DIY Pallet Sideboard – Storage Cabinet
This DIY pallet sideboard storage cabinet is built entirely from reclaimed pallet boards, so the lumber can cost nothing. One side holds a stack of three drawers, while the other side is a tall shelving unit behind chicken wire doors, so dishes and food items stay on display. The top is wide enough to serve from. Sand every board thoroughly to bring out the natural grain and a smooth surface, then leave the wood raw for a rustic look. The page describes it as beginner friendly and suits a kitchen, dining room or covered patio.
Get the full tutorial at 99 Pallets.
10. DIY Sideboard With Wine Storage
This DIY sideboard with wine storage combines a record cabinet, a stereo stand and a wine rack in one piece for a small apartment. It is built from plywood, with decorative metal grates in the doors instead of wood panels, so speakers can sit inside and still be heard. An X shaped wine rack fills one end. Stain the awkward spots, like the inside of the wine rack, before final assembly, because they are hard to reach later. Fill pocket holes with wood filler, stain dark walnut and topcoat with clear satin polyurethane. Free plans are linked.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Huntress.
11. Modern Glam Sideboard DIY
This modern glam sideboard DIY cost about $100 in materials and is built from IKEA cabinets. Ready made unpainted cabinets save time and look neater than assembling from loose furniture boards. Sand the cabinets, roll on two coats of acrylic paint in a bold color and seal with clear furniture varnish. Spray six metal furniture feet gold, keeping coats light so nothing drips, and screw them to the cabinet bottoms. Mount the sideboard to the wall for stability. Gold accents above it, like a sunburst mirror, tie the feet into the whole look.
Get the full tutorial at L'Essenziale.
12. Refinished Mid Century Buffet
This refinished mid century buffet brings a thrifted Bassett sideboard back to life with Minwax English Chestnut stain. Strip and sand the old finish, using sandpaper by hand in tight spots and a Dremel with a sanding attachment on the beveled areas. Wipe on the stain with a dampened rag for an even coat. Expect some trim pieces to take stain differently from the veneer on the drawers and top, since different woods were often used, and blend them as best you can with extra coats. The restored buffet now holds dining accessories in a sunroom.
Get the full tutorial at Merrypad.
13. Restoration Hardware Inspired DIY Sideboard
This Restoration Hardware inspired DIY sideboard copies a $2,195 store piece using free plans from Ana White and Shanty 2 Chic. It is a big build, about 75 inches long and 36 inches tall with four doors, so plan for garage space. Start with the frame, including the decorative sides, then add the face frame and build the doors to fit. The free plans carry the full cut list and detailed steps; this page is a builder’s photo diary of following them. Stretch the plan to 98 inches and six doors for a bigger wall.
Get the full tutorial at Frills and Drills.
14. Custom Modern Sideboard
This custom modern sideboard is a 94.5 inch credenza made from two IKEA Besta cabinets in matte white. Screw the two cabinets together in the center, following the IKEA instructions. Then swap the plain white Besta feet for solid oak legs; legs sold for IKEA beds share the same screw thread and fit perfectly. Use eight legs total, including two under the center joint for support, and skip the extra holes so it does not look crowded. The warm wood gives a clean Scandinavian look, and a stone or wood top could come later.
Get the full tutorial at visual heart creative studio.
15. DIY Shabby Chic Pallet Sideboard
This DIY shabby chic pallet sideboard is built from reclaimed pallet wood, so it costs next to nothing. Two cabinets with doors sit under one wide top that holds dishes and serving pieces. Sand every board smooth, including the edges, then whitewash the base while leaving the plank top in its raw, rustic color. The finishing touch is a pair of deer antlers used as door pulls, a fun twist that fits a cabin or farmhouse dining room. The page is a showcase rather than a step by step plan, so measure your space and adapt.
Get the full tutorial at 101 Pallets.
16. Mirrored Buffet From A Dresser
This mirrored buffet from a dresser turns an $80 secondhand solid wood dresser into a glam buffet for far less than a store bought one. Check that the drawers slide smoothly before you buy, since sticky drawers are a pain to fix. Take the piece apart as much as possible and give it a very light sanding; gel stain does not need a full strip. Wearing gloves, apply three coats of Java gel stain with a sponge brush, wiping away the extra with a rag, then add two coats of satin topcoat. Mirror panels and decorative overlays finish the look.
Get the full tutorial at Design by D9.
17. Vintage Sideboard Revamp
This vintage sideboard revamp turns a $40 Danish tulip sideboard from an online classifieds listing into a bright white statement piece. Similar sideboards were listed for $800 elsewhere, so it pays to hunt. Sand the surface down with a power sander before painting. The big lesson here is primer: skipping it meant close to ten coats of paint to stop orange streaks bleeding through from the old wood. Prime first and two coats will do. Long slim legs and sliding doors keep it light and modern in an entry or dining room.
Get the full tutorial at The Social Home.
