How To Decorate A Buffet, Sideboard, Console, or Other Flat Surface
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A step-by-step guide for decorating a buffet, sideboard, or any flat surface like a pro. Learn how to transform this functional furniture piece into a room’s focal point.
Decorating a buffet, sideboard, or any flat surface in your home is an easy way to add style and personality to a room. These pieces of furniture are prime decor real estate, and when styled well, they can become beautiful focal points.
Today, I’m sharing simple and practical ways to decorate a buffet and my best styling tips to make the process easy and stress-free. These basics are invaluable, so don’t skip them. They will make styling your buffet effortless and give you confidence to create a look you love.
The best part is that decorating a buffet does not take a lot of time or require lots of items. With just a few helpful tips, you can style a buffet beautifully in minutes.
Buffets and sideboards are the perfect places to add beautiful decor and showcase your personality. They offer a stylish way to bring charm and interest to a room without overwhelming the space.
To make decorating easier, I thought it would be helpful to show you a few different ways to style a buffet. I gathered some of my favorite pieces to create a variety of looks on the buffet in our living room. These simple styling ideas will help you put together a buffet that feels curated and effortlessly beautiful.
A Quick History Of A Buffet
Buffets and sideboards have been a staple in homes for centuries. Originally, they were designed to hold food and serving dishes during meals, making entertaining more convenient. Over time, they evolved into beautiful and functional pieces of furniture used for storage and display.
Today, buffets and sideboards are more than just practical—they are the perfect places to add beautiful decor and showcase your personality. They bring charm and interest to a room without overwhelming the space, making them a stylish focal point in dining rooms, living spaces, and even entryways.
My White Buffet
This buffet has been a part of our home for years and has traveled with us through two houses. It first lived in the dining room at StoneGable, where it held everything from dishes to seasonal decor. When we moved to the Tanglewood House, it found a new home in the living room, where it now serves as both a functional and decorative piece.
No matter where it has been, this buffet has always been a favorite spot to style and refresh with the seasons. It’s proof that a well-loved piece of furniture can adapt beautifully to different spaces and styles over time.
Decorating Guidelines
No matter your style, you can decorate a buffet like a pro by following a few simple guidelines. These tips will help you create a balanced and stylish look that feels natural and effortless.
Basic Buffet Decorating Tips
- Add light layers to your decor to create depth and interest.
- Use a mix of larger and medium-sized items rather than lots of small objects, making a buffet look cluttered.
- Faux blooms and plants are wonderful additions, but make sure they look realistic. A touch of greenery or florals can breathe life into your display.
- Experiment and play with your accessories until you find a look that feels just right.
- Less is more—an uncluttered buffet is always more visually appealing.
- Stick to a tight color palette for a cohesive and polished look.
- Change things up often. Refreshing your buffet decor keeps your space feeling fresh and inviting.
With these simple guidelines, decorating a buffet becomes an easy and enjoyable way to enhance your home.
Where To Start
The first step to styling your buffet is to read this post all the way to the end! There is so much helpful information here that will make decorating easier before you even place the first item on your buffet or sideboard. Taking a few minutes to understand these tips will save you time and help you create a beautiful and balanced look.
Start With A Clean Slate
The best way to begin decorating your buffet is with a clean slate! Remove everything from the surface, giving yourself a fresh starting point. If possible, take down anything hanging on the wall behind it. This helps you see the space clearly and lets you be intentional about what goes back. The large mirror behind my buffet is too heavy to move, so it stays put, but if you have something that can be removed, I recommend doing so.
Here’s a great tip—take pictures with your phone throughout the decorating process. Your camera will pick up details your eyes might overlook. Blogging has taught me how valuable this step is, and I use it all the time when styling spaces in my home. A quick snapshot can help you see balance, proportion, and any areas that need a little adjustment.
Before placing anything back on your buffet, it’s helpful to understand a few key interior design concepts. These simple principles will make a big difference in how your buffet looks and feels when it’s fully styled. Let’s dive in!
Choose A Tight Color Palette
The number one way to create a beautiful cohesive look when styling a flat surface like a buffet is to choose a tight color palette.
Pro Tip
A color palette will create harmony between the items on a buffet and it will also help you choose things that complement the room your buffet is in.
It’s worth knowing your way around what goes into creating a color palette that adds to the beauty of your home. You might like to read How To Choose A Color Palette For Your Home.
Create a Balanced Design
Because a buffet is a long narrow flat surface, it is important to think about balance when decorating it.
Think of balance as adding things to an equal-arm scale or teeter-totter. When we decorate, we want to strive to make the scale as balanced as we can. In other words, if we draw an imaginary line down the middle of a buffet, the items on one side of the buffet have about the same visual weight as the items on the other. The items do not need to be the same, but they need to have about the same visual weight.
Because a buffet is a long, narrow surface, balance is key when decorating it. A well-balanced buffet will feel visually pleasing and harmonious, making it a beautiful focal point in your home.
Think of balance like an equal-arm scale or a teeter-totter. When decorating, the goal is to keep that scale from tipping too far to one side. If you were to draw an imaginary line down the center of your buffet, the decor on each side should have a similar visual weight. The items don’t need to be identical, but they should feel evenly distributed. Make sure you read Why Knowing About Visual Weight Will Make You A Better Decorator.
We naturally assess visual weight without even realizing it. It’s just something our eyes do. Trust your eyes! If something feels off, try shifting items around until both sides of the buffet feel balanced. Finding the right arrangement is often just a matter of tweaking things until it looks right.
Understanding visual weight will help you become a better decorator, and this principle applies to so much more than just buffets. If you want to learn more about balance, symmetry, scale, and proportion, check out Why Balance Is So Important When You Decorate. These concepts will help you style any space in your home with confidence.
Vary Heights
When decorating a buffet or sideboard, varying the height of objects is one of the easiest ways to create a visually interesting and beautiful display. Our eyes naturally like to move from one item to another, and when they travel up and down across different heights, the entire arrangement feels more dynamic and appealing.
If everything on a buffet is the same height, the display can look flat, dull, and uninteresting. Adding variation in height gives the decor movement and makes it feel layered and intentional.
An easy way to vary heights is to use a mix of tall, medium, and low objects. Stack books under a smaller item to elevate it, use a lamp or a tall vase to add height, and place smaller decorative pieces at different levels. This simple trick will make any buffet arrangement look balanced and stylish.
The Magic Of Threes
Did you know there is magic in threes when it comes to decorating? There is. Our eyes naturally search for things grouped in threes, and this simple design rule makes decor arrangements look more interesting and balanced. There is a lot of science behind why odd-numbered groupings are more pleasing, but for now, just remember that when styling a buffet, it is always a good idea to include at least one group of three.
However, not all groupings of three create the same visual impact. The key is to arrange items in a way that forms a visual triangle. This means the tallest item should be in the center or slightly off-center, with the other two items positioned at different heights around it. This triangular arrangement keeps the eye moving and makes the grouping feel intentional rather than cluttered.
This simple design principle is an easy way to make any buffet look polished and well-styled.
Read Using The Magical Rule Of Three When You Decorate for lots of easy-to-do tips and designer concepts.
Visual Triangles
A visual triangle is a perfect way to group three items together to be pleasing to our eyes. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.
Choose items with different heights so they make a triangle. Layer the smaller items slightly in front of the tallest item if you can.
Groups Of Items Can Be Divided Into Threes
Did you know that items grouped closely together can act as one on a buffet? Just see the image above! Our eye often captures a group of decor items as one thing!
Texture
Texture is something we should always be thinking about no matter what we decorate. Our eyes have the ability to perceive how things feel. Rough, silky, fluffy, and shiny. When styling a sideboard, be aware of the textures you are adding. They should be varied.
Use The Wall Space Behind The Buffet
The wall space behind a buffet is just as valuable as the surface itself. Treat it like prime decorating real estate. Adding a backdrop to this space helps frame the buffet and gives the entire arrangement a finished look. A mirror, shelves, artwork, or architectural elements can all make a big impact.
I recently swapped out a large clock for a lightly antiqued sixteen-panel mirror, and I love how it opens up the room. The mirror reflects light, making the space feel brighter, and it also reflects the decor on the buffet, adding even more depth and interest.
Another way to layer decor is by leaning a smaller piece of artwork or framed print against the mirror or wall. Right now, I have a little picture of cut oranges propped in front of my mirror, and I love the extra visual interest it adds. Small details like this make a buffet feel even more curated and personal.
Anchor Items
Anchor items are the pieces that provide stability and structure to your buffet decor. These are the items that will likely stay in place no matter how you style your buffet from season to season. Choosing the right anchor pieces makes decorating easier because they create a consistent foundation for your look.
Think about what will remain the same throughout the year. This could be a lamp, a large vase, a mirror, or a piece of artwork. These elements add height and balance, making them essential to the overall design. Once your anchor items are in place, you can swap out smaller decorative accents to reflect the seasons without having to start from scratch each time.
Having a few well-chosen anchor pieces allows your buffet to feel styled yet effortless all year long. Let me know when you are ready for the next section!
Lighting
Lighting is probably the most common anchor decor. Most of us do not change a table lamp too often. If you have a dining room sideboard you might want to use buffet lamps that are tall and skinny. They were made for a buffet they do not take up much room. And they highlight the food or drinks on a buffet by shining pools onto it.
A pair of sconces hanging on the wall on either side of a buffet make a beautiful upscale statement. Putting them on dimmers will make it easy to adjust the light.
Beautiful Accessories And Accent Pieces
One of the best parts of styling a buffet is adding accessories and accent pieces to bring everything together. These finishing touches make a buffet feel warm, inviting, and uniquely yours.
Once you have added a mirror, artwork, or another backdrop to the wall and placed your anchor decor on the buffet, it is time to layer in beautiful home decor accessories. These pieces add personality and style, making your buffet look complete without feeling cluttered.
Organics
One of the best parts of styling a buffet is adding accessories and accent pieces to bring everything together. These finishing touches make a buffet feel warm, inviting, and uniquely yours.
The key is to arrange them to keep the eye moving while maintaining a sense of harmony.
Candles And Lanterns
Candles and decorative lanterns are natural fits for a buffet. They add height and, when lit, add beautiful pools of soft golden light. They create ambiance and look beautiful! They also add a different texture to a buffet display.
Bridge Decor
It’s a good idea to add a little something to bridge the decor on one side of a buffet or flat surface to the other side. And here is an easy way to do that as well as the exception to the visual triangle rule.
Three decor items that are similar and about the same size can work as one to make a beautiful bridge between the left and the right decor on a buffet.This is a pretty look if you need something to add to the middle of your buffet decor.
Other Buffet Decor
A buffet or sideboard is the place to let your personality shine! Add decor you love, and that is meaningful to you. Here are examples of decor you might like to use…
- low sided baskets
- beautiful bowls
- trays
- books
- bookends
- pictures
- a sculptural piece
Storage
A buffet or sideboard is a useful piece of furniture for displaying decor on its top flat surface and storing items in drawers and behind closed doors. These are the perfect places to keep things you need out of sight.
Decorating A Buffet Quick Guide
Here is a quick guide for decorating a stylish buffet…
5 STEPS FOR DECORATING A BUFFET
FAQs About Decorating A Buffet Or Sideboard
Decorating a buffet can be a fun and stylish way to add your personality, beauty, and function to any room it is in. Remember to change the decor on your buffet from time to time to keep it fresh and interesting. Follow these easy designer concepts and buffet decorating tips to style your buffet like a pro.
More Decorating Posts
Get interior design principles broken down into easy-to-understand, doable processes that you can use over and over in your home.
Don’t forget to pin this for later!
Happy decorating, friends!
I love all your buffet schemes. My buffet is longer than yours and it stumps me because things look far apart. Any ideas for this situation?
Pull the decor in from the sides of the buffet. We don’t need to decorate the buffet to the ends if it is long. Give that a try.
Love your style. I’m getting a new 80” long dresser. Can’t begin to think how to style it. Tall buffet lamps? I don’t know how to put things together.
Just remember Marylynn, you do not have to decorate the entire length of a piece that is so long. Start from the middle and work out. It is okay if the ends aren’t decorated, probably better.
I love the white pots with handles on the side board. Where can I buy them?
The white pots came from Ikea.
Yvonne, you always have such helpful info. Thanks for always sharing ways to decorate our home. We appreciate you so much.
Thank you so much Mary Ann!
Hi! Where did you get the mesh lamp? Love your set-up. It definitely inspired me 🙂
Thank you!
I found the mesh lamp at Pottery Barn years ago. I don’t think they carry it anymore. Sorry!
Where did you get this buffet?! I love it!
Here is a link to it:https://rstyle.me/+Lek5k08dljjkCblXPUwVTQ It is out of stock right now but give them a call and see if they will get it back in.
Do you have a list of where items like the clock and mesh based lamp can be purchased?
Hi Debra, the clock above the buffet is an old clock I painted white and the lamp was from Pottery Barn years ago. It is no longer in stock.
Can you tell me the height of the mesh lamp as well as the stacked baskets on the buffet? Also, do you have a source for the baskets and the antique white clock? Thank you!
Hi Mark,
I took all that decor down, so I’m sorry I don’t have that info. The basket was found locally and I painted the clock. Hope this is helpful
I love your white buffet decor ideas. Could you show some ideas for buffets (lovely antique) that are dark wood, please. I am the fortunate recipient of my grandfather’s dining room set … beautiful table, and both a short ( 41″) and
long (78″) buffet. I have antique silver candlesticks on either end of the buffets and on the dining room table but am looking for something else to add or something different in these three places. Thank you. Barbara
Barbara, I don’t think the color matters it’s more the style! Your buffet would look beautiful with a big bowl of flowers (real or faux)in the middle of it. Hope this helps.
I love the way you use anchors and switch up with different items and textures. I have a wall that goes up about 36 inches above the buffet, and then there are three windows that go up to the ceiling. My dilemma is what to put on the wall as a backdrop for the items on the buffet.., any suggestions?
Keep it simple because the windows probably act as a “mirror” or focal point. Try adding a large real or faux plant in a pretty urn on one side of the buffet and a low basket with some dishes in it on the other side. Hopes this helps.
I have three great pieces that operate as dining hutches and furniture for the dining area, which the living room is open to. My best arrangement has been having the three pieces, which are different but work together very well, and help with storage I do not have in my small kitchen next to the dining area. It is not crowded, and I do not think anything competes with the look of the dining table. I have my plants on two of the three pieces, and I have stuck to the tight color palette you recommend (listening to your advice). I did mainly white, green, and tan or copper. There are French doors that the dining table is centered on, and that leads outside to the deck. The green trees look very pretty, and it feels spacious with the French doors allowing natural light in. I have been removing clutter to donate from all areas of the house, and I am mainly not displaying little knicknack type items.
In the house as a whole, in the main area, I do have the tight color palette you advised. Everything flows together well, and the house feels pretty to me. I mix using real plants and quality fake ones, and dried ones I bought. It feels like in the main room it looks right and does not draw clutter.
Sounds so pretty Tracie! Thank you for sharing your home with us.
Where did you buy your hydrangeas?
The hydrangeas came for our yard.
Hi how could you decorate a very long buffet with photo frames?
Hi DJ- I would layer several frames in one area of a buffet. Use different size frames. I wouldn’t scatter them across the buffet. I think they would look too visually busy. Keep your best photos in a grouuping. Hope this helps.
Where did you get the mesh lamp and the baskets at the other end of the buffet?
I found it at the Pottery Barn about 6 years ago. I have not seen the lamps on their site for awhile. Sorry I can’t help you more.
Where can this buffet be purchased?
The buffet is out of stock right now. Sorry!
There are some great ones that are similar on Wayfair. I just ordered one.
I love your style. I have an antique family buffet with a small mirror across the back and then a small shelf above it. Right now I have 2 small candlestick lights on each side of the shelf across the top. Do you have any different suggestions for an antique buffet or would you stick with the recommendations you have already shared. It is wood. Thank you.
Those are wonderful ideas for buffets and tables. My challenge with my buffet is that it is up against a half wall, with and open arch above, which you can see through to the foyer, which has a console table with a mirror above. The console surface usually has either a large green arrangement or in the fall, a dried arrangement. I have a photo and a candle to accent, although often just the large arrangement. So I don’t want what is on the buffet,( that can be seen from both rooms) to compete. I am sensing something low like a dough bowl or similar shaped basket would be the answer. Would you have another suggestion? I don’t have lamps on either the buffet or the console table.
A dough bowl with moss in it would look very attractive.
Hi! Where did you get the two tiered round rattan looking boxes? Thanks!
Hi Margaret, here you go:https://rstyle.me/+vH9c9_87Em_N0QgaD4147Q
Where did you purchase the clock above the buffet?
Hi Sandy, I found this clock a decade ago at Khols. It had a dark brown frame and I painted it.
I love these ideas? Where did you find the lamp with the burlap lamp shade and silver base?
I found this lamp at HomeGoods over a decade ago. Sorry I do not have a source anymore.
Yvonne, I like the arrangement on the first buffet shown, could you please tell me where you bought the lamp and Vase. Thank you Roslyn
I found the lamp locally and the urn is from Pottery Barn. Hope this helps.
Love these ideas!
Thanks, Brenda! Happy Decorating.
Looking at my buffet in my dining room and other flat surfaces in my house, you can tell, I’m an avid follower of yours! The latest instruction that I’ve embraced is “less is more”. It was difficult to put away some of the smaller things, but I did it and it looks great!
I have a question for my dining room buffet. My mirror is much too long for the buffet, but it’s one that I had already, it’s very pretty and it goes with the decor in the room. To remedy the longer mirror dilemma, I added a small marble topped table next to the buffet so that the mirror spans both pieces (I can feel you cringing!) I do have another, more square mirror that I’d need to paint, but I wouldn’t have a place for the longer mirror AND I would require my husband’s help in moving everything around and rehanging the mirror…he hates change and procrastinates like crazy, so that’s the reason why I haven’t done this. Maybe if YOU tell me that I need to make this switch, I’ll get it done!
If you need permission to hang the other mirror then this is it! I think, from your comment, you know what mirror you should use. If you love the long mirror, keep it. But when you look at it and know that it is wrong then it is worth the change. And I did cringe a little bit and then I read your comment. I laughed so hard!!!! You are a darling!
I always appreciate your blogs and the design references throughout.
Can you please share where that mirror behind your buffet is from.
Thanks,
Max
You can find the mirror here:https://rstyle.me/+TUPPuHDlb_xC6m4gtOdBsw
Good morning,
I’m considering this mirror for a spot and wondering . . . from the website pics the overall look seems warm. On a scale of 1-5 how warm/yellow would you consider the overall look to be? Are there any greenish undertones coming out?
Hi Kim, this is such a beautiful mirror! It has a little bit of antiquing, however the mirror is not nearly as antiqued as the image on the Pottery Barn site. I would say it is a 1 1/2 on the scale. The antiquing is a light gold-ish that is lightly sprayed here and there. It’s a beautiful effect. You can see my mirror here: https://rstyle.me/+TUPPuHDlb_xC6m4gtOdBsw
Love your paneled mirror above the console table. Can you tell us where you found it?
Here it is:https://rstyle.me/+TUPPuHDlb_xC6m4gtOdBsw
Which size do you have?
Hi Maria, can you tell me what you want the size for? I’ll be happy to answer.
Thank you for such a helpful, well thought out post! I have the very same mirror in my dining room, hung over my grandmothers antique buffet. I can’t tell you how validating it is for me, LOL, that you also chose the same mirror for your home! 🙂 The mirror is much more beautiful in person than in a photo, too, with an aged, vintage look to each mirrored pane. Yes, it’s pricey, but as you’ve pointed out, we don’t change a mirror often. It was well worth the cost, and I also note how easy it is to decorate with this mirror as a backdrop. Every lamp, candleholder, arrangement and other piece of decor I’ve placed in front of this mirror has worked easily. I love your ideas, as always. Happy spring!
Pam, I so agree. This mirror was certainly a big splurge. But it is a big part of our decor. I’m so glad you like your mirror as much as I do.
I would love to read this entire post, however one of your blog videos with ads was running the entire time and took up half the screen is my smartphone. I could not find a hide button, even after turning sideways. I hope you can fix this issue. I read many, many blog posts, save though I understand the need for you to monetize your content, in my experience the videos can be hidden.. (I could silence but that was it.). I hope you can resolve this, as I have read your content in the past and love it. Thank you. Debbie
I’m sorry Debbie. I’m trying to fix that. So sorry.
Thank you.
You are welcome, Deb!
Hello,
which style is this buffet? I want to find one for my home in Venice ( Italy).
I will really appreciate any suggestion.
I love your blog.
Chiara
Hi Chiara! Oh, I would love to come to your city some day! I originally found this buffet on Wayfair over a decade ago, but it is sold now at Walmart. Here is the link;https://rstyle.me/+1rWqPcdRe_IDpWmuaBG2WQ
Very nice how-to post!
Even tho I’ve read this before I have now pinned it. Good reminders and rules to follow!
Where did you get that gorgeous mirror? Trying to figure out how to decorate my buffet and I love this as a starting piece!
Here you go:https://rstyle.me/+6GPROh9_SxV9QSrR-Rvwyw
Very informative and certainly making sense of decorating a side board.
We live in a townhouse with a sideboard in our living room under a large pass through opening into the kitchen. Could you suggest a decorative idea for this sideboards. Lamps are not an option, they seem to visually block the view into kitchen.
Hi Ellen, if you have room on the wall you might want to add a mirror and sconces. I’m thinking a pass through might need a bit of light. I like to keep things simple so I would add a big dough bowl and decorate it seasonally. That way nothing is too tall and your sideboard is dressed up for each season. I hope this helps.
Beautiful! Where can I purchase the mirror? Thanks
Hi Renee, You can find the mirror here:https://rstyle.me/+2b70brm6IYgmg1K2_4-57Q
We just love its beautiful finish and how it fills this wall. Great quality too.
You have a special knack for making design principles clear. Also your styling and photography are exceptional! I think your fresh twist in traditional is broadly appealing.
Question: Are those tulips real? If not, could you share source?
Suggestion: I find the pop ups excessive and obstructive. I feel like I’m maneuvering an obstacle course to find the treasures in your posts.
Thank you Jodi! The tulips are real.. from the grocery store. I know the ads are bothersome. However, without them I could not sustain my blog. Thanks for looking past them! ❤️