The Wave Sideboard: Russell Pinch's Award-Winning Dining Room Classic

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The Wave sideboard is the sort of furniture that looks simple and is anything but. Two drawers sit in the centre, a cupboard stands at each end, and the whole thing rests on slim stainless-steel legs — a quiet, balanced object that has won an industry award. It was designed by Russell Pinch, who went on to found one of Britain's better-regarded furniture studios, and the story of how he got there is as interesting as the piece.

A Conran-trained designer

Russell Pinch trained as a furniture designer at Ravensbourne College, then spent five years working for Sir Terence Conran as a design assistant before heading up Conran's product team. In 2000 he set up a multidisciplinary brand-design agency called The Nest, and in 2004 returned to furniture by founding the design studio Pinch in London with his wife, Oona Bannon. Pinch has described its philosophy as simplicity, pure forms and superior materiality, with pieces made with skilled artisans across the UK and Europe. The studio marked twenty years in 2024, and has since opened a showroom in New York.

Because of his earlier years at Conran, the Wave sideboard appears in dealer and retailer listings credited as "Russell Pinch for Conran" as well as under the Pinch name — a reminder that Pinch designed for Conran before founding his own studio. The Wave won the Design & Decoration award for Best Furniture and was shortlisted for an Elle Decoration furniture award, which is more recognition than most sideboards ever receive.

What the Wave actually is

The sideboard is a long, low, rectilinear piece. It was offered in white, oak and walnut, with stainless-steel legs, two central drawers and a cupboard at each end with adjustable shelves. The standard size is 1,500 mm wide, 450 mm deep and 635 mm high, with custom sizes available; when we first featured it in 2009 the white version was priced at £4,950.

That height and depth are worth noting. At 450 mm deep and 635 mm high, the Wave is a slim, low-profile piece — a dining-room sideboard rather than a bulky storage unit. It works well along a wall in a modest dining room, under a window, or as a long console in a hallway, because it doesn't dominate the space. The steel legs are what lift it off the floor, so you can see the line of the floor underneath, which makes a small room feel larger.

Why white, oak or walnut

Our 2009 write-up said the white version was a personal favourite, with oak and walnut for "wood lovers" — and the choice of finish genuinely changes the sideboard's character. In white it reads as a clean modern object; in oak it becomes warmer and more Scandinavian; in walnut it moves towards a mid-century feel. Because the form is so restrained, the material does most of the work. It's also a good example of how a restrained design can last: well-made timber pieces with a clear line tend to look fine for decades, while trend-driven sideboards date quickly.

What to check before buying

A sideboard this long is only as good as its drawer runners and its legs. Open and close both centre drawers fully, check that the shelves inside each cupboard sit level on their supports, and look at the point where each stainless-steel leg meets the carcass, because that's where a heavily loaded sideboard shows wear first. Measure the wall space too: at 1,500 mm wide it needs a clear stretch of at least that length, plus room to open the cupboard doors.

What happened next

Pinch has grown into a recognised British furniture brand, featured by publications such as Wallpaper and Livingetc, with an unusual personal angle: Russell Pinch and Oona Bannon spent more than a decade restoring a 300-year-old barn, as reported by the design site Gessato. Pinch's work has been stocked by established retailers including Heal's in London and The Future Perfect, and Heal's has published a studio interview with Russell Pinch and Oona Bannon. I couldn't confirm whether the original Wave is still in Pinch's current catalogue, so if you want one, check Pinch's website first, and failing that look at specialist resellers where the sideboard turns up secondhand under both the Pinch and Conran names.

For another piece of well-made, restrained British-led design with a clear provenance, see our page on the Wishbone chair, which has been in continuous production since 1949, or Seltz's Pentagon dining table, built from steam-bent solid wood in Alsace. If your interest is in furniture made by hand in small family workshops, Promemoria's Scrigno bedside table is the Italian version of the same idea.