Dressing Up
In every corner of the consumer world there are purchases made less out of desire than pure necessity. Musicians, for instance, have to buy cables and stands in which to set their equipment. Golfers pay hundreds for bags to house their clubs. IT folks purchase racks for their servers. And painters need gesso to dress their canvases. In the home-furnishings department, we have dressers.
While sets of drawers can be opulent—–a 19th-century Jewel cabinet by John Webb fetched a breezy $3.2 million in a 2007 auction—–for the modern-day shopper without a Russian oil baron’s bank account, function almost always trumps form. Yes, a chest of drawers, bureau, dresser, or whatever you wish to call it, needs to be able to house those items of your wardrobe not suited to the closet, but given the dresser’s scale and relative prominence in the home, should it not also be stylish?
After no shortage of despair (and trips to every showroom within 20 miles), we settled on a vintage model for our own abode—–a highboy from Drexel’s Declaration line by Stewart MacDougall and Kipp Stewart. Solid walnut construction, concave brass fixtures, tall drawers, and an affordable price influenced our decision. For a similar amount at Ikea, we would have ended up with veneered particleboard and Allen wrench–embossed fingertips.
Although we didn’t buy new, we didn’t want our dresser research to go to waste, so we pulled together our notes and invited a pair of critics more accustomed to evaluating wardrobes to assess the results.
Articles
-
Fertile Grounds
Nestled in an apple grove in Sebastopol, California, the Orchard House is a rural idyll. And with the voracious design appetites of a family of gastronomically inclined clients, this concrete…
-
Japanese Book Binding
I quite liked the video my colleague Miyoko Ohtake posted earlier this week on Japanese joinery and thought I'd do my bit to shed a bit of light on Japanese style handcrafts as well. Here's a great…
-
Upwardly Mobile Homes
When it comes to real estate, the trailer park gets a bad rap. But some designers think that this forsaken corner of the market is worthy of reevaluation—and even resuscitation.
Products
-
Stuffed Stools
This stool might look like a simple stump, but it's actually a steel version of the real deal. Available in different heights and colors, collect them all for a full forest effect in your living room.
-
VDC Washer Apron-Dress
Those Parisians sure do know a thing or two about style, don’t they? Time after time, they prove that classics outlast any trends or fads. They keep things simple over at VDC, offering…
-
Dress Sofa
Table of Contents
Advertising
Advertising
Advertising
Related Products
-
Stuffed Stools
This stool might look like a simple stump, but…
-
VDC Washer Apron-Dress
Those Parisians sure do know a thing or two…
-
Dress Sofa
by Anna von SchewenDesigner Anna von Schewen has done a lot of work…
Latest
-
02.08
Fair Chairs
We continue our coverage of the 2012 Stockholm Furniture and…
-
02.07
Seven from Stockholm Design Week
It's about mid-way through the 2012 Stockholm Design Week and…
-
02.07
Hotel Fasano Boa Vista, Brazil
Just a few months ago, Fasano Hotels opened a sprawling…
Follow
Dwell
-
Old-school #transportation http://t.co/0uXuKbK5
-
A bit out of date, but spotted in Stockholm none the less! #travel http://t.co/3UTJ3N13
-
Our overage of the Stockholm Design Week continues with a look at a few especially haute seats: http://t.co/AI8RmEdw #furnituredesign
-
Big news involving @HWKN_arch @marchitizer @MoMAPS1 and new pal Pedro Gadanho: http://t.co/5Hv55IlF #architecture
Be the first to comment.
RSS Feed
Add a Comment