A chest of drawers is a quietly important piece of furniture. It absorbs the clothing that would otherwise sit on a chair, gives a bedroom a surface for a lamp, and often ends up as the most used item in the room. Because it sits at a moderate value, it also sits at exactly the level where people consider spreading the cost, and layaway is one of the terms that comes up.
Layaway describes an arrangement where a retailer reserves an item and releases it once the balance has been paid. It was once common in British high street shops, particularly for larger household goods, and it still exists in some independent retail.
Most retailers now handle staged payment through a payment provider instead. The order is placed and dispatched normally, and the provider divides the total into scheduled payments. We sell furniture and take payment for orders, and at our checkout PayPal Pay in 3 is available as a payment option provided by PayPal. The eligibility rules and terms for that arrangement are PayPal’s own.
If you specifically want an item held until it is fully paid, ask the retailer directly whether they operate that model, because it is different from payment splitting and it changes when you receive the goods.
Before comparing products, open your current drawers and look at what is actually inside them. Most people find a mixture of things that need drawer space and things that would be better hanging or boxed. Sorting that first changes which chest you need.
Wide shallow drawers suit shirts, knitwear and folded items laid flat. Deep drawers suit bulkier items such as jumpers and bedding, but they encourage stacking, which means the items at the bottom are rarely used. A mixture is usually the best arrangement, with two shallow drawers at the top and deeper ones below.
Our range of modern chest of drawers UK sale includes two, three, four, five and six drawer configurations, so it is worth matching the layout to what you actually own rather than choosing on width alone.
The same storage capacity can be arranged in two ways, and the room decides which is better.
A tall narrow chest keeps floor space free, which matters enormously in small British bedrooms. It also gives you a surface at a comfortable height for a lamp or a tray. The drawback is that the top drawer may sit too high to see into properly, and the unit must be fixed to the wall.
A low wide chest gives a longer surface, works well under a window, and feels more stable. It uses more floor area, and it needs a clear metre in front so drawers open fully without hitting the bed.
Measure the projection of the drawers when open, not just the depth of the unit. A chest that is forty five centimetres deep may need over a metre of total clearance once the drawers are extended.
Wooden finishes suit bedrooms because they hide the small marks that inevitably accumulate. Grain absorbs wear rather than showing it, and warm tones sit well with linen and cotton textiles. Our wooden chest of drawers UK sale range covers light through to dark tones so matching an existing bed frame is usually possible.
High gloss brightens a room that gets little natural light and gives a clean contemporary look. Fingerprints show, particularly on darker gloss, so handles are preferable to push to open fronts in a busy household. Our high gloss chest of drawers UK selection includes both white and coloured finishes.
On construction, look at the drawer runners rather than the exterior. Metal runners with a soft close mechanism last far longer than plain wooden channels, and they make a noticeable difference to daily use. Check whether the drawer base is solid or a thin panel, because a heavy load in a weak base will bow over time.
A chest of drawers often doubles as a surface, and height determines what it can be used for. At around eighty centimetres it works as a place to lay out clothes or use as a changing station. At around one hundred centimetres or more it becomes a display surface rather than a working one, since you cannot see the top comfortably while standing close.
If the chest sits beside the bed, height matters differently. Our modern bedside cabinets UK range is designed to sit level with the mattress top, which is the height you want for a lamp, a glass of water and a book. A tall chest next to a low bed looks unbalanced and is awkward to reach from lying down.
If the chest is the first purchase in a wider bedroom plan, decide the finish now. Bedrooms show mismatched tones more clearly than any other room because the pieces stand close together and often share the same wall.
Record the exact product name and finish, and photograph the piece in daylight when it arrives. That photograph is a more reliable reference than any screen image when you come to add a matching piece months later. A modern dressing tables UK option from the same range is a natural next addition, since dressing tables and chests are often designed as pairs.
Free UK delivery applies across our range, so adding pieces later costs nothing extra in delivery, and at Furniture in Fashion the finishes are listed consistently across categories, which makes staged buying more predictable.
Most chests arrive flat packed. Assemble in the room where the unit will stand, since a completed chest is heavy and awkward to carry through doorways. Lay out the panels first and check the parts list before starting, which saves the frustration of discovering a missing fixing halfway through.
Fix the unit to the wall with the supplied bracket, particularly if there are children in the house. An open drawer creates significant leverage, and a child pulling on it can tip an unsecured chest. This applies to low wide units as well as tall ones.
On placement, avoid putting a chest directly against a radiator, since sustained dry heat can cause movement in timber and can affect adhesives in engineered panels. Leave a small gap where possible.
File clothing vertically rather than stacking it flat. Standing folded items on their edge means you can see everything in the drawer at once and nothing gets buried. Simple fabric dividers keep the arrangement in place.
Assign the top drawer to daily items, since it is the easiest to reach. Use the bottom drawer for seasonal or occasional items, because it takes more effort to open. Keep the top surface largely clear so it stays usable, rather than becoming another place where items accumulate.
Position affects usefulness as much as size does. Under a window is often the best place for a low wide chest, since it uses a wall that cannot take tall furniture and puts natural light onto the surface. Check the sill height first, because a chest taller than the sill will block part of the window and look awkward from outside.
Beside the door suits a tall narrow chest, as the wall next to a door is usually too short for anything else and the chest becomes a convenient place to set things down as you come in. Avoid placing a chest where a drawer opens into the door swing, which is a surprisingly common oversight in small rooms.
Opposite the bed is the least useful position in a small bedroom, because it consumes the walking route. If it is the only option, choose a narrower unit with more drawers rather than a wide one.
Chests of drawers are not confined to bedrooms. In a hallway, a shallow chest holds gloves, dog leads and post while providing a surface for keys. In a living room, a low chest works as a media surface with the drawers absorbing controllers, cables and games.
Home offices benefit too. A chest beside a desk holds stationery and paperwork more efficiently than a filing cabinet, and it looks domestic rather than institutional. In a dining area, a chest can take table linen and serving pieces where a sideboard would be too large.
This flexibility is worth remembering when you buy. A chest that outgrows its original purpose rarely needs to leave the house, which makes it one of the safer furniture purchases to make early in a staged plan.
Photographs flatter furniture, so look at the specifications instead. Weight is a reasonable proxy for material thickness, and a suspiciously light unit usually indicates thin panels that will flex under load.
Read the description for drawer details. Terms such as metal runners, soft close and dovetail construction indicate a higher standard. A drawer that runs on plain wooden channels will work when new and stick within a year or two, particularly in a room with humidity changes.
Check whether the back panel is fixed into a rebate or simply pinned on. A properly fitted back panel keeps the carcass square, which is what stops drawers from binding over time. Assembly instructions and dimension diagrams often reveal this detail even when the description does not.
We dispatch orders in the normal way. PayPal Pay in 3 is available at checkout as a payment option provided by PayPal, which splits a total into scheduled payments without delaying delivery.
Tall and narrow usually wins in a small room because it keeps floor space clear while offering the same capacity.
Allow roughly a metre from the front of the unit so drawers extend fully. Check the drawer projection rather than only the unit depth.
Metal runners, preferably with a soft close mechanism, and a solid drawer base that will not bow under a heavy load.
Yes. Use the supplied bracket, since an open drawer creates enough leverage to tip an unsecured unit, especially with children in the house.
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