Antique Family Heirloom to Buffet Table & Sideboard

A special family antique heirloom repurposed into an elegant sideboard and buffet table. One-of-a-kind, designed with love and remembrance.

This family heirloom is the dining room table that I grew up with.

A table that provides humbling memories from eating my first lobster to,

Crafting with my mother at home on snow days.

Friends gathering around for birthday parties.

Morning breakfasts before school, which were always waffles.

Feeding our Daschunds, Hilda, Bridget, and Willamena, my vegetables under the table.

Setting the table for Christmas dinners.

And sitting with my father’s binoculars, looking for whales or the stray beach kayaker out at sea.

You can read more about growing up in Coastal Maine in my post, Coastal Maine Heritage—Embracing My Roots.

The table was antique, dark pine, and sat 6 comfortably.

The antique ladder-back chairs that accompanied this dining room table are displayed today at a different family Maine home that we inherited later on from my parents. You may see more in the post, 4 Things You Need to Know About This Old Chair.

When I bought my first home in Connecticut almost 26 years ago, my father refinished and repurposed this antique family heirloom into a desk for me to use in my home office. I used it for years, but now that I’m retired, it’s time to repurpose it back into a dining room furniture piece at our home here in Vermont.

Thrifting with the Gals

I’m taking a little detour this month with my Thrifting with the Gals blog post. We have had so many home improvements happening from this Pretty in Stardew Blue Paint | A Home Interior Makeover Before and After to our 4 Season Sunroom Makeover with Grand Mountain Views, and now our 3 bedrooms are being wallpapered. So I haven’t had much time to go thrifting since my last time while in Maine, Antiquing, 6 Thrifty Finds, and a Lobster Biscuit.

Oh, and we just got almost 3 feet of snow. It’s a winter wonderland out there, for sure.

So, I thought I would share this family heirloom with you for this month’s Thrifting with the Gals post. I hope you like it! And if you are joining me from Cindy of DIY Beautify, our guest host this month, welcome! I just love all of Cindy’s creative and budget-friendly DIYs.

Antique Heirloom to Buffet Table and Sideboard

Now, this dining room table is no longer a dining room table. It’s smaller and has only one folding drop leaf, not two.

How to build a buffet sideboard?

There are two pieces on this table; the first is the base.

With two homemade leaf locks to hold the folding table top’s only drop leaf.

And the top rests upon the table’s base.

I absolutely love the wooden joint knots on each leg.

And I think they’re home to a few teeth markings from our Daschunds knawing on them, too…

See what I mean about humbling memories?

You may also enjoy this new breakfast nook space in the post, Best Breakfast Nook Ideas for Morning Brunch.

Is it a Family Heirloom Buffet Table or a Sideboard?

When you place a sideboard in your dining room, it is called a buffet table. Once you move it into the living room, it is called a sideboard. Both are excellent home accent storage solutions, but where you will use them determines what you call them.

If you have an open floor plan, as we do here, the buffet table resides in your dining room but is open to your living room, too. Therefore, it is considered both a buffet table and a sideboard.

You may see more of this blue and white platter wall in the post, Blue and White Asymmetrical Vintage Platter Wall | Design Yours Today.

How do you choose a buffet table?

This table’s size and character are ideal as a buffet table and sideboard for our dining room.

We are bringing it back to its original existence with an entertaining twist.

The great thing about buffet tables is that they offer a great look and so much functionality.

Since we already have an antique pine dining room table, which you may see more of in the posts A Vintage Christmas Haul and 3 Holiday Wreaths, and Romantic Antique Table Setting with Thoughtful Design, this antique family heirloom pairs perfectly as our new buffet table and sideboard.

You may also enjoy the post, Store, Stack & Display Vintage Dishes in an Antique Cobblers Rack.

What is a buffet table typically used for?

Buffet tables are commonly used to store and display barware and tableware, such as glasses, plates, platters, and bowls, but you can also use them to display home accents, such as plants, flowers, and lamps.

Here I decorated and paired our antique buffet table and sideboard with our Saint Patrick’s Day and Spring table setting.

You may also enjoy the 12 Table Topics with Thrifted Tea and Toast Fanfare post.

How much does an antique buffet cabinet cost?

An antique family heirloom buffet table and sideboard like this one is absolutely priceless and made from the heart. And will be treasured for years to come.

A Pinterest Tidbit

Did you know that embracing second-hand furniture pieces is one of the biggest home decor trends for 2023? According to Pinterest, it’s true! Searches for ‘eclectic interior design vintage’ are up 850% over last year. I’m so glad that the younger generations are joining our love for vintage and second-hand.

If you enjoyed this post, I’d love it if you pinned the photos to your favorite Pinterest board, too!

You may also enjoy this post, A Petite Antique Dresser in the Bathroom with knobs like big old diamonds.

8+ Antique Heirloom Sideboard Styling Tips

As I write this post today, we are preparing to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. So, as I style our Saint Patrick’s Day dining room table, which you may see more of in the post, Is Your Table Ready for Spring and St. Patrick’s Day?, you’ll notice green and spring touches throughout today’s post.

• Start with florals: This will help set the color tones for your buffet table or sideboard. Here, I’m using yellow spring daffodils that I bought at the supermarket and repotted into a vintage soup tureen.

• Choose your favorite cocktail or dessert and theme your buffet table or sideboard around it. With it being Saint Patrick’s Day and a Nor’easter dumping snow outside, I want to add a warm after-dinner drink to our buffet table. Have you ever heard of a Dorset Maple Reserve Hot Toddy? It touts our favorite local Vermont maple syrup and Jameson’s Irish Whiskey.

• Decorative glassware is an important buffet table accent. “Because it’s all about the glass,” as my girlfriends and I would say. Check out the post, Vintage Glassware – It’s All About the Glass. I’m adding my favorite green flutes in a little wooden drawer.

• Vintage books always add magic, even on a buffet table or sideboard. Use them for stacking home accents, fillers in empty spaces, placing small bud vases on them, and more.
• Lemonade sets like this vintage one I found while out Thrifting with the Gals last summer can also be used as a watering station for your buffet table or sideboard. And see how I got these vintage textiles so clean in the post, How to Safely Bring Age Stained Textiles Back to Life.

• A lamp will add ambient lighting and warmth to a dining room buffet table.
• Napkins, linens, and your favorite home accents with your own personal touches.
• Add risers like cake stands and stacks of dishes.

You may also enjoy the post, A Timeless Classic | Franciscan Desert Rose Table Setting.

A Round Irish Pine Table

Since we’re talking all about buffet tables and sideboards, I thought I’d share this funny blooper story with you today, all about this old Irish table!

My husband had his home office painted this week, so we cleaned it all out. We absolutely love the Stardew Blue and Chantilly Lace paint combination.

Then, I was reminded of this round Irish pine table that used to be our dining room table over 11 years back when we lived in Connecticut. We originally had to cut the legs down just to get it up into his office over the garage.

So I mentioned to Steve in passing that we could cut the legs again and bring the table back down into the house to use in what used to be our dining room.

Remember, I moved our dining room into what was the sitting room and that left this dining room space open for new ideas. Like a breakfast nook.

Well, my husband jumped the gun and thought I wanted this table brought down to coffee table height, so he cut the legs right down for some unknown reason. Oh my gosh, what a disaster…

I was simply thinking of cutting the legs down where we had originally cut them taking the table down only a few inches for more of a card table height.

So we had to glue and dowel the legs back onto the stubs, which meant that the table would need to now stay at its original height.

So for now, I’m waiting on a couple of new chairs to arrive and I can’t wait to share this breakfast nook with you once I have it all put together.

Shop This Post

This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Thrifting with the Gals

Next up on today’s “Thrifting with the Gals” blog hop is Robyn from Robyn’s French Nest. Robyn is sharing 10 easy ways to decorate with vintage architectural salvage. Robyn is so clever, you’re going to love it all!

Be sure to check out the other gals joining me on today’s hop, too!