A tallboy pairs best with lower, wider pieces that balance its height: a bedside cabinet, a blanket box, a bench or a low chest. Beside it, a leaning mirror or a piece of wall art keeps the vertical line going without adding bulk. What a tallboy does not want next to it is another tall, narrow item, because two vertical blocks side by side make a wall look like a corridor of columns.
Think of a tallboy as the exclamation mark in a room. It works because everything around it is calmer and lower.
A tallboy is a chest of drawers built upwards rather than outwards, usually five or six drawers deep and rarely more than about eighty centimetres wide. It exists because floor space in British bedrooms is limited and wall space is not.
Its real strength is storing the awkward middle category of clothing: jumpers, jeans, gym kit and folded shirts that do not need hanging but take up too much room in a wardrobe. It also suits narrow walls, chimney breast alcoves and the strip beside a door where a wide chest will not fit.
The trade off is depth. Tallboy drawers are usually shallower front to back than those on a wide chest, so bulky items can be a squeeze. Check the internal drawer depth if you store chunky knitwear.
The first coordinating rule is horizontal counterweight. A tallboy standing alone on a wall looks stranded. Give it a low companion and the wall composes itself.
A blanket box or bench beneath a window on the same wall works well, as does a low bedside cabinet if the bed sits nearby. In a large room, a low sideboard style unit alongside a tallboy creates the kind of stepped arrangement that fitted furniture achieves.
The companion piece does not have to match the tallboy exactly. It should share either the finish or the handle style. Our modern blanket box UK sale range includes low designs that work as both seating and counterweight.
Bedside cabinets are the most common neighbours for a tallboy, and the relationship between them sets the tone for the room.
The cleanest approach is same finish, different proportion. A tallboy and a pair of low bedside cabinets in the same timber read as a considered set without the room feeling like a showroom.
If the finishes differ, connect them through hardware. Matching handles across mismatched furniture is remarkably effective, and handles are inexpensive to change. Our modern bedside cabinets UK sale range covers a wide spread of heights, which matters because a cabinet should sit level with or just below the mattress top.
Avoid tall narrow bedside cabinets in a room that already has a tallboy. Two vertical shapes flanking the bed and a third on the opposite wall makes the whole room feel cramped.
A tallboy usually leaves less wall above it than a standard chest, which changes what you can hang.
If there is more than about sixty centimetres of clear wall, a single piece of art in portrait orientation extends the vertical line and looks deliberate. Landscape art above a tallboy tends to look squeezed.
If the gap is smaller, leave it empty and put the interest beside the tallboy instead. A tall leaning mirror next to it reflects light and doubles the perceived width of that wall. Our cheval mirrors UK sale range suits exactly this position, since a freestanding mirror needs no fixing and can be angled.
Wall lights either side of a tallboy are another option in rooms short of surface space, though they need planning before decorating.
The top of a tallboy sits at chest height or above, which means you see it from below rather than looking down onto it. That changes what looks good.
Tall items work better than flat ones, because flat objects disappear from the viewing angle. A lamp, a vase with stems or a stack of two books with something on top all read clearly. A tray of small items does not.
Keep the arrangement to three objects at most and vary their heights. A lamp at one end, a vase in the middle and nothing at the other end creates a natural asymmetry that looks relaxed.
Resist using the top as a dumping ground. At that height, clutter is at eye level and dominates the room far more than clutter on a low surface would.
In a small room, a tallboy is often the only sensible storage option, and the risk is that it overwhelms the space.
Three tactics help. Choose a finish close to the wall colour so the piece recedes rather than announcing itself. Keep the floor around it clear, since visible floor is what makes a small room read as larger. And place it on the wall you see least, ideally the one behind you as you enter, so it is not the first thing in view.
A slimmer depth also helps. A tallboy of forty centimetres depth against a wall feels considerably lighter than one of fifty, and the capacity difference is smaller than you would expect.
If floor area is genuinely tight, compare a tallboy against a wider low chest in our modern chest of drawers UK range and measure both against your wall before deciding. Sometimes the low option wins simply because it leaves the wall above free for a mirror.
The bed and the tallboy rarely sit side by side, so they do not need to match closely. They do need to agree on temperature and formality.
A warm oak tallboy with a cool grey upholstered bed can work provided something else in the room bridges them, such as a rug or a cushion that carries both tones.
Formality matters more than people realise. A tallboy with a traditional profile, panelled drawer fronts and turned feet will look out of place beside a very contemporary low platform bed. Keep both pieces in the same design language even if the materials differ.
Whole room combinations are easier to picture when the pieces are shown together, and our bedroom collections at Furniture in Fashion group tallboys, chests and beds in consistent finishes.
Tall furniture carries a tipping risk, particularly with several drawers open at once. Any tallboy should be fixed to the wall, and most are supplied with a bracket for the purpose. In a home with children this is not optional.
Check the floor. A tall unit on a thick carpet will lean slightly and the drawers may not sit flush. Adjustable feet or a solid plinth base help considerably.
Consider drawer order. Heavier items belong in the lower drawers, both for stability and because reaching into a high drawer with weight in your hands is awkward. Some tallboys include deeper lower drawers for exactly this reason, which is worth looking for.
Finally, measure the drawer extension. A tallboy in a narrow space needs room for the drawer to open fully, and in a tight walkway that can be the limiting factor rather than the width of the unit itself.
A tallboy is not restricted to bedrooms, and moving one elsewhere often solves a storage problem that no other shape can.
In a hallway, a narrow tallboy holds gloves, hats, chargers and post without occupying the width that a console table would. Keep the top clear apart from a tray, since hallway surfaces attract clutter faster than any other.
In a home office corner, the upper drawers work well for stationery and cables while the lower ones take files and paper. Because the unit is tall, everything stays within reach from a standing position.
In a nursery or child’s room, a tallboy paired with a low changing surface gives a lot of folded storage in a small footprint. Wall fixing is essential here rather than advisable.
The coordinating principle stays the same wherever it goes. Give it a lower companion piece, keep the wall above it either empty or filled with something vertical, and avoid standing a second tall narrow item beside it. A tallboy is at its best when it is the tallest thing in the arrangement and everything else defers to it.
A tallboy is taller and narrower, typically five or six drawers high, while a standard chest is wider and lower. A tallboy uses wall space instead of floor space, which suits smaller rooms.
It is possible in a large room, but the result reads as a wall of storage rather than furniture. A tallboy paired with a lower piece almost always looks better balanced.
Portrait orientation art if you have more than about sixty centimetres of clear wall, or nothing at all if the gap is smaller. A tall leaning mirror placed beside the unit is often a better solution than anything hung above it.
Yes. Tall drawer units can tip when several drawers are open, and wall fixing is essential in any home, particularly one with children. Most designs include a bracket.
Tall objects that read from below, such as a lamp, a vase with stems or stacked books. Limit yourself to three items and vary their heights, since flat arrangements disappear at that viewing angle.
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