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The chest of drawers is massive, with 6 identical drawers. It has 2 1/2 times as much storage volume as the chest of drawers that was replaced. The unit is solid walnut with baltic birch drawers and a rubbed lacquer finish over a dark walnut stain. $1,300 |
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Overall height about 60 inches, 36 inches wide, and 18 inches deep. The top has about 3/4 inch overhang on three sides, finished with a bullnose. Each of the six identical drawers has a solid walnut front, with baltic birch plywood sides, attached to the front with dovetails.
The web that glides each drawer is 3/4 inch thick, walnut on the front, and poplar for the rails and back. The web is set into dados in the sides of the cabinet, but not glued so that the wood can shrink and expand with the seasons. Each side rail is 1/16 inch above and below the divider (7/8 inch total thickness), to keep the drawer from wearing the finished wood in front. To allow the solid wood sides to shrink and expand, the side rails are about 1/8 inch shorter than expected, and float in mortise and tenon joints in the front and back rails. These side rails also float in the 1/4 inch deep dry dado in the sides. Dust panels are included between each drawer.
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The triple dresser is our favorite piece in this bedroom set, with nine drawers in a three by three arrangement. The solid walnut unit has baltic birch drawers, and is braced so that a mirror can be added later. $1,400 |
Construction details: about 60 inches long, 18 inches deep, and 30 inches high with a 3/4 inch bullnose overhang on three sides of the top. Each foot shows 3 1/2 inches, and tapers from almost 2 inches to 1 1/4 inches. The drawers have a 3/8 inch rabbet on the top and sides (but only 1/8 inch on the bottom). With 1/8 inch clearance they overlap the frame by 1/4 inch on each side, requiring that the vertical divider be 1/4 inch thicker than the ends, top, and bottom of the carcase.
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Not many people realize how many pieces are in a dresser or chest of drawers. This is about half of the dresser carcase just a few days before it was assembled. The white boards with the tenons are the glides the drawers ride on. Each of those boards requires 20 separate cuts on the saw, after you start with the correct size piece of wood. Some of the cuts are measured to about 1/128 of an inch. |
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This mirror has an arched top and spindles, with heavy side posts, made from solid black walnut, and designed to match the bed in this bedroom set. It has legs, hidden in this picture, to attach it to the back of the triple dresser. The mirror is flat glass, 24 by 36 inches, but could be upgraded with beveled or heavier glass. The wood is finished in rubbed lacquer. $650 |
The traditional bedroom furnishings include a tall chest of drawers for the gentleman, plus a wide dresser for the lady. Who knows why? But architects seem to design bedrooms with a space at least 5 feet wide that the dresser logically would go, and another space at least 3 feet wide for the chest of drawers.
Most bedrooms today have a television. And the television must be fairly high in the room if both parties want to watch it while lying down, looking over the other person. Today's larger television sets are deeper than the 18 inches of most chests of drawers. Therefore I am looking for the opportunity to build a bedroom entertainment center. One that is deeper than a normal chest of drawers, with a high place for a television, and with a dresser and/or chest of drawers in the bottom (since it probably needs to take the position of one of those units in a normal size bedroom).
Width: Most bedrooms I have measured have a logical place to put a 60 inch wide dresser, but often cannot handle a unit much larger than 60 inches. But a 5 foot long dresser is a nice size, as the unit above shows. If space is more limited, the dresser could be narrower, either reducing the storage, or moving to a higher unit, perhaps 4 drawers high and two drawers wide.
Most bedrooms can support a chest of drawers that is 36 inches wide. With 6 tall drawers, this is a massive unit, so a narrower unit (perhaps 30 inches), or a unit with 5 drawers, may be sufficient.
Height: Typical height for a dresser is 30 inches. A mirror is often attached to this unit, with 24 x 36 inches of glass, so with frame the top of the mirror can easily be above 6 feet high. A double dresser (two drawers wide) is narrower, but is sometimes 34 to 40 inches high. A unit over 30 inches high would not normally support an attached mirror.
A chest of drawers might be 60 inches (5 feet) high, but the top of the unit, and the top drawer, will be difficult to use by most people. Some units have fewer or shorter drawers, and are 48-50 inches tall.
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