The week before our Christmas party, it seriously felt like we were doing everything at once. Couch, lighting, sideboard = Lots of money and sweat putting everything together.

Kay and I loved the first sideboard so much that we contacted the owner and scheduled a pickup on what I now know was one of the only snowy days this entire winter. (We have not had any polar vortexes in Switzerland this year…)

We picked up the sideboard on a Saturday morning with a rented truck and boy was it heavy! This thing is massive. We were incredibly lucky that it juuust barely fit in our lift, because I was not sure how I would help carry it up the stairs.

Kay was really impressed by how heavy and well-built the sideboard was. It was no IKEA piece of furniture and when we got it home and Kay tinkered with the switch, the lighting worked no problem.

I love it!! It is a little taller than the other sideboard option and so for a buffet, it is maybe a tad too tall for shorter guests, but we’ll see how it goes with dinner parties. We do have a lot of room for serving nibbles on the table and in the kitchen.

And I really like the way the light toned wood contrasts to our floors.  Once we had it at home, I didn’t really want to paint it anymore since the condition is so good, but Kay was unsure.

I set up all our booze in the glass cabinets to show them off. I’m looking forward to not have to dust all the liquor so often now that it is behind glass.

And in the middle we could fill the drawers with excess items from the kitchen like ice cube trays and thermos.

And in the bottom section we can store our less-often-used appliances like the crockpot, fondue pot, toaster and raclette machine.

We are both really happy with the sideboard purchase. It is the first big, non-IKEA item in the living room and I feel like it makes our house look a little less like an IKEA catalogue. 

Now that we have had it for a few months, I think I am getting closer to convincing Kay that it would not be worth all the effort to sand, paint and finish the sideboard in a lime green color. I really like it natural. It looks very warm and inviting. What do you think?