Dressers Buying Guide
History
The history of the dresser can be traced back to 18th century Wales, when it made its first appearance as a means of displaying prestigious tableware. By the 19th century, however, the dresser was becoming more common in less affluent homes.
Welsh dressers have long been popular home furniture pieces, given their combination of the visual appeal of a display cabinet with the level of practicality more commonly associated with a sideboard.
Function of a Dresser
It is possible to use a dresser - which is customarily placed in the dining room or kitchen - to store crockery, napkins, tableware and cutlery. They have also, however, come to be used more often in the living room and for displaying items such as antique vases and cookbooks, thanks to their combination of cupboard storage with display shelves.
Types of Dressers
Welsh Dressers tend to be distinguished by a combination of cupboard storage on their lower part with cabinets or shelves placed above, the latter for display purposes.
Here at Furnishing Homes, we offer a generous selection of dressers, from simple pine units with a single cupboard and open shelves that are perfect for organising all manner of crockery and other kitchen essentials, to larger units that come complete with cupboard and drawer combinations and glass cabinets on top.
Choosing a Dresser
There are various questions that you should ask yourself when looking for a dresser, including:
- Where do you intend to place your dresser within your home? There are certainly many possibilities, from the kitchen as a place to store plates and cookbooks, to the dining room as somewhere to store table mats and cutlery. But any area of the home where you require extra storage and display space is a possible destination for a dresser.
- What size does your dresser need to be? Remember to measure the height, width and depth of the space in which you intend to site your dresser in advance, so that your new furniture can be easily accommodated. Consider whether there will be sufficient room for the dresser and for you to easily move around it.
- What will be using the dresser for? This will inevitably influence the exact type of dresser that you opt for. We have dressers that consist of small drawers for the storage of napkins and cutlery, as well as some with larger cupboard spaces to accommodate more random bits and pieces.
- What style of dresser are you interested in? Ensure that your new dresser is a good match to the rest of your home's decor, whether you opt for a rustic oak piece or instead a more contemporary-styled dresser.
