Dresser Shopping Starts With the Wall: Wide, Tall and Small Chests to Measure For

The V&A calls the chest of drawers a new form of furniture in the middle of the 17th century, and the reason is wonderfully practical: drawers made it far easier to reach things at the bottom than a lidded chest ever did. It holds an English example dated 1653. That is where every dresser in this edit comes from, and I find it oddly comforting that we are still solving the same problem of where the sweaters go.

 

So here is my honest point of view. Choose the wall first and the finish second. One furniture buying guide says a standard dresser runs 18 to 24 inches deep, with 18 to 22 most common, and recommends at least 36 inches of clearance in front so drawers open fully. Take a tape measure to the wall and to the door swing before you fall for anything below.

 

This first grid is the wide pieces for the main wall. Modway has the most range here: the Emmeline Scalloped 6-Drawer Dresser has a scalloped front that softens a square room, the Soma 8-Drawer Dresser is the one for people with a lot to store, and the Chaucer 6-Drawer Compact Dresser is the smaller choice for a wall that is almost wide enough. The Transmit 47 Dresser has its width right in the name.

 

Hudson Park Collection offers the Chelsea 6 Drawer Dresser and the Bayside 6 Drawer Dresser, both six drawers, so they would sit well under a big mirror or a pair of lamps. Babyletto's Sprout 6 Drawer Double Dresser is the double one, with six drawers across a wide front.

 

Bernhardt, which says it was founded in 1889 by John Mathias Bernhardt and is now led by the family's fourth generation, shows up with the Tribeca, the Axiom and the Silhouette 8 Drawer Dresser with Square Hardware, plus Bernhardt Loft's Brasea and Bernhardt Interiors' Keali. Caracole rounds it out with Roam, Simply Perfect and Love At First Sight, which have names more romantic than most furniture.

 

Bernhardt's Lucerne and Loggia, Universal's Walker and Hooker Furniture's Cascade Six Drawer Dresser join the wall group too, so you have plenty to hold up against a wide bedroom wall.

The Met says the high chest of drawers, the piece often called a highboy, arrived in the American colonies in the 1690s and became the main form of case furniture in the William and Mary style. Tall storage on a small footprint is not a new idea. If your wall is narrow, or your window and door leave only a slim gap, the chests in this second grid are the answer.

 

A furniture buying guide describes a chest as a tall, narrow vertical drawer unit, usually 40 to 55 inches high. That is a different animal from the wide pieces above. You get the same number of drawers stacked up, which leaves floor space for a bench, a rug edge or a plant.

 

Modway has the biggest group here, and they all say five drawers in the name. The Chaucer 5-Drawer Chest, the Soma 5-Drawer Chest, the Vespera 5-Drawer Chest and the Emmeline Scalloped 5-Drawer Chest sit in a family with the wide ones, so you could pair a wide Emmeline with its tall sibling on two walls. I like that idea more than a boxed bedroom set, because the match is looser and looks collected.

 

Bernhardt brings the Tribeca Tall Drawer Chest, the Outline Tall Drawer Chest and the Silhouette Tall Chest, and I added the Solaria, Lucerne, Prado and Foundations tall chests, which all say tall in the name. The Lucerne has reeded fronts and the Prado a hammered metal front, so tall does not have to mean dark.

 

One test before you buy: stand where you would stand at the top drawer and imagine reaching up. If you cannot reach it comfortably, that tall chest is for linens you use twice a year, not your socks.

Not every bedroom has a big wall. Sometimes you have a nook beside the closet, a guest room, a hallway landing or a corner that wants one good piece. That is where the small chests and bachelor's chests in this third grid belong. They are shorter and narrower, with three or four drawers, and they are easier to live with in a tight room.

 

Modway shows up again with the Render 4-Drawer Chest and the Render 3-Drawer Bachelor's Chest, the Transmit 3-Drawer Chest, and the Nolia 3-Drawer Color Block, whose color block drawer fronts are the playful one in the group. Bernhardt's Linea Bachelor's Chest is the more grown up option, and Caracole's Bachelor piece is as plainly named as it gets.

 

Babyletto has the Hudson Modern 3 Drawer, 40, with three drawers stated in the name, so it is easy to picture against a short wall. Eichholtz has the Small Modesto, which I would use as a hall piece, with a lamp and a tray for keys on top.

 

Bernhardt Interiors' Adagio Bachelor's Chest and Hooker Furniture's Affinity, Modern Mood and Charmant chests are the dressier picks for a corner, each only a few drawers and low enough for a lamp.

 

The Met says early 18th-century American dressing tables were used in the bedroom for grooming and held brushes, combs, pomade pots and scent bottles. A small chest does the same job now. Set a tray, a mirror, a lamp and one thing you love on top, and you have a dressing corner without buying a vanity.

 

What I would skip: a big piece squeezed into a small room just because it is beautiful. Measure, then leave at least 36 inches in front so the drawers open fully, and skip anything that blocks the door swing. I would also skip a chest that is too tall for the wall space above it, since a lamp or a mirror needs a little breathing room.

Here is how I would choose, wall first. Measure the width of the space and the depth you can spare, and tape it out on the floor with painter's tape. Open the door, walk around it, and sit on the bed. If the tape feels crowded, go down a size.

 

Then decide what lives on top. A lamp wants a flat, steady surface, a mirror wants wall space above it, and a tray keeps small things from spreading. Think about the rug too, because the front legs of a chest look best with the rug edge tucked beneath them or stopping clearly short.

 

Safety is the unglamorous part, but please do it. The US CPSC urges people to anchor furniture to the wall, and its mandatory stability standard for clothing storage units took effect in September 2023. Anchor the tall chests above especially, and every chest in a child's room.

 

Last, choose the finish you can see yourself living with. Rattan and cane read light, oak tones read warm, and lacquer is smooth and bright. Pick the wall, then the drawer count, then the finish, and the rest of the room tends to fall into place. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Murphy Bed and Chanel Boots, From Quilted Combat Shapes to Tall Two-Tone Lines.