Which one, and what's the difference? Server or cabinet?

By Allie Sypert, Designer
La-Z-Boy, Spanish Fort

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What is a Server?
<-- Don't we all wish we had one of these at home all the time?  Someone who says, "Hi, my name is John and I'll be taking care of you today!" Well, of course, we do!


The server that is on my mind, though, is a piece of dining room furniture that serves as a serving table, and it is conveniently called, a SERVER.  It is a relatively slim table, much like a sofa table, and is meant to be placed along the dining room wall.  This piece was (and still is)  traditionally used to stage food before it is served to guests, although now has become quite the beautiful, flexible piece in a home and used for a myriad of purposes.  You might see it in an entryway or hallway, and it  may or may not have cabinets below.  Most any servers are usually shorter in length and height than cabinets.

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The Southbury Server

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So, what is a cabinet?
The cabinet is all about storage space.  Shelf storage is the central and most important feature of a cabinet.  All of that cabinet space can be used to store everything from dishes to books, collectibles and photos. Anything you want to store that will fit!

The Weatherford Heather Hastings Open Hutch/Buffet Cabinet

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Legos, a laptop, and china.
Fresh ways to use a server or cabinet!

CREATE A CLEANER WORK SPACE
Working from home? Need more surface area for work materials or screens?  Solve your clutter challenge by using the server as a cadenza.  It masks as a chic, understated piece in the same room where you can turn it from work space into a lounge or dinner area at night.

THE TOYS, THE TOYS! 
Are toys everywhere in your room?  Think outside the toy-box and if your cabinet or server has solid doors covering the shelves,  use it to hold this wonderful but cluttered chaos. Children's books and small boxes of coloring books and crayons fit well. During playtime, children can easily access the toys because the doors are usually at their eye level. And when its nap-time or bedtime, or if company is coming over, the clutter can quickly be taken out of view. 

DISPLAY YOUR COLLECTIONS
Whether a closed cabinet, or one with exposed shelves (or both), you can artfully display your much loved china and collectibles in the defined space of a cabinet or server.  This gives you the freedom to express  without overtaking a room with clutter.

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OR,  JUST USE IT FOR ITS ORIGINAL INTENTION. 

Stack those fine white plates and espresso cups on top of a server with an expresso or coffee machine, or set up a cocktail-hour mini-bar on it.  When not in use, put flowers, accessories, and books on it!  If you have a cabinet, do the traditional thing and show off your china, photos, and books in the cabinet's open shelves or behind its glass doors!

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A customer's dilemma solved

A La-Z-Boy customer recently inherited two sets of china from a relative who is downsizing. She was so excited to receive not one, but two sets of beautiful fine china but was short on storage space.   The obvious thing would be to get a cabinet with all of the extra storage space.  But she already has a cabinet! The bottom shelves were full of her children's books and art supplies because they used the table for drawing and coloring. Her own set of china filled the top shelves.  And as with all of us, her kitchen cabinets were full, as well.  She didn't want to just store them in the attic or garage.  She said, "I'll never use the china if it's hard to get to!"

So, we talked it through, looked at all of the cabinets and servers available in our furniture gallery, and came up with a solution.

How would you have resolved this storage issue? What do you think she did?

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