My furniture is too deep!
December 7, 2011 4:14 PM Subscribe
Where can I find a shallow dresser?
We moved into a really small bedroom, and there is no configuration that will allow a standard depth dresser. My searches tell me to 'find a shallow dresser,' but that's proven rather difficult.
An ideal dresser would be between 15˝–17˝ deep and constructed of solid wood. Bonus if it's part of a bedroom collection.
Budget is an issue, but I haven't found much at any price range.
I've looked at sideboards, but cannot find any that have the amount of drawer space needed.
Also, we're in Brooklyn.
Thanks for any leads!
We moved into a really small bedroom, and there is no configuration that will allow a standard depth dresser. My searches tell me to 'find a shallow dresser,' but that's proven rather difficult.
An ideal dresser would be between 15˝–17˝ deep and constructed of solid wood. Bonus if it's part of a bedroom collection.
Budget is an issue, but I haven't found much at any price range.
I've looked at sideboards, but cannot find any that have the amount of drawer space needed.
Also, we're in Brooklyn.
Thanks for any leads!
I've never seen a shallow dresser.
We have one! And so does my mom. They are baby dressers and they range from 15.5 - 18" in depth. They are normal dresser height, but they are still not going to give you a ton of storage. (I've never seen a double-height one.)
posted by DarlingBri at 4:24 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
We have one! And so does my mom. They are baby dressers and they range from 15.5 - 18" in depth. They are normal dresser height, but they are still not going to give you a ton of storage. (I've never seen a double-height one.)
posted by DarlingBri at 4:24 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
Alternatively, how much closet space do you have? Could you put a dresser inside the closet?
posted by easily confused at 4:50 PM on December 7, 2011
posted by easily confused at 4:50 PM on December 7, 2011
I rejected this fella for being too shallow. (I know, it's IKEA, but it's solid wood.) It's kind of small overall, though, so it might not be large enough for you in other dimensions.
posted by enlarged to show texture at 5:22 PM on December 7, 2011
posted by enlarged to show texture at 5:22 PM on December 7, 2011
Try searching for modern baby furniture. It's smaller and more shallow.
posted by katypickle at 5:32 PM on December 7, 2011
posted by katypickle at 5:32 PM on December 7, 2011
I have the IKEA Rast linked above and it's pretty high quality, for the price and for being IKEA. However, there is really not a lot of space in the drawers. I think you could stack two if you needed more room.
posted by min at 5:56 PM on December 7, 2011
posted by min at 5:56 PM on December 7, 2011
I've had the IKEA Rast drawers as well, and agree that it's good quality. I stacked mine (one on top of the other) and that worked well.
posted by MouseOfHouseofAnony at 8:03 PM on December 7, 2011
posted by MouseOfHouseofAnony at 8:03 PM on December 7, 2011
Look for furniture designed for small apartments. My first apartment in New York was actually pretty large, but had a long front hallway apparently modeled after a narrow crack in a wall; No regular sized furniture would fit down it. I was able to find a narrow sofa, shallow dresser and other pieces at a furniture store in Manhattan which were meant to fit in (or through, in my case) absurdly small sized spaces. I dont recall the name of the place, as it was some 13 years ago, but Manhattan is still Manhattan, so I'm positive that furniture solutions exist for all of the lilliputian sized apartments still around. Good luck.
posted by chosemerveilleux at 3:34 AM on December 8, 2011
posted by chosemerveilleux at 3:34 AM on December 8, 2011
You might think about using an Expedit of some sort, with insert boxes to suit your fancy. Expedits are 15" deep. They're not real wood, but there are lots of ways to customize them to suit any decor. And, of course, the price is right.
For example, a 2x8 Expedit with Drona boxes will give you more storage space than a standard single-width dresser, and if you need a little "countertop" surface to put your miscellanea at night, you could leave the 3rd row with no boxes to use as open shelves to empty your pockets into each night.
One of the advantages to the Expedit is that there is no wasted space inside the furniture (no feet, no dead space at the top, no need for extra space on the sides or at the back surrounding the drawers. So for the same outside volume you get a lot more usable storage room than you would with a drawer unit.
We've got our bed set up as a platform bed sitting on 1x5 Expedits that we use instead of dressers, and I love it. It's kind of similar to this one, except there's a 3rd row of 1x5 expedit at the foot, and the headboard is a 5x5 expedit unit, for a grand total of 40 Expedit cubbies in only slightly more space than a standard queen. it's f'in insane. Ikeahackers also has lots of examples of how to dress up your Expedits.
posted by drlith at 3:37 AM on December 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
For example, a 2x8 Expedit with Drona boxes will give you more storage space than a standard single-width dresser, and if you need a little "countertop" surface to put your miscellanea at night, you could leave the 3rd row with no boxes to use as open shelves to empty your pockets into each night.
One of the advantages to the Expedit is that there is no wasted space inside the furniture (no feet, no dead space at the top, no need for extra space on the sides or at the back surrounding the drawers. So for the same outside volume you get a lot more usable storage room than you would with a drawer unit.
We've got our bed set up as a platform bed sitting on 1x5 Expedits that we use instead of dressers, and I love it. It's kind of similar to this one, except there's a 3rd row of 1x5 expedit at the foot, and the headboard is a 5x5 expedit unit, for a grand total of 40 Expedit cubbies in only slightly more space than a standard queen. it's f'in insane. Ikeahackers also has lots of examples of how to dress up your Expedits.
posted by drlith at 3:37 AM on December 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Check out the Hemnes line at Ikea, specifically the two and four compartment shoe cabinets. They are not solid wood, and they are not perfect for storing clothes, but do very well storing socks and other accutrements that don't need to be keep in order or unwrinkled. The shoe storage cabinets are 1ft deep.
posted by lstanley at 6:38 AM on December 8, 2011
posted by lstanley at 6:38 AM on December 8, 2011
You might also try looking for what are called lingerie dressers. They tend to be tall and narrow. Here's another Ikea dresser that I was thinking about. It's very similar to the one already posted.
Ikea Goliat
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40103685/
posted by forkisbetter at 8:53 AM on December 8, 2011
Ikea Goliat
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40103685/
posted by forkisbetter at 8:53 AM on December 8, 2011
Gothic Cabinet Craft currently has 18" pieces - they build from scratch, though, so if you have one in your neighborhood you could ask if they can do a shallow version of the pieces you like.
posted by Mchelly at 10:04 AM on December 8, 2011
posted by Mchelly at 10:04 AM on December 8, 2011
Response by poster: The RAST is cute, but is too small. I need some surface space at a proper height, and I need some storage space within.
I really would prefer wood, but if not, it would have to be cheaper than the EXPEDIT… when factoring in filling a 2x4 with drawers, I'm over $300… which is a lot for particle board not actually designed as a dresser.
The HEMNES is too deep at the dresser level, too shallow at the shoe cabinet level. It's also mostly solid wood, and feels nice. Not gonna work for me, though.
Lingerie dressers are tiny…
I did go into GCC a while ago — there's one in the neighborhood — but the only ones they had that I liked were part of third–party sets.
posted by mhz at 12:40 PM on December 8, 2011
I really would prefer wood, but if not, it would have to be cheaper than the EXPEDIT… when factoring in filling a 2x4 with drawers, I'm over $300… which is a lot for particle board not actually designed as a dresser.
The HEMNES is too deep at the dresser level, too shallow at the shoe cabinet level. It's also mostly solid wood, and feels nice. Not gonna work for me, though.
Lingerie dressers are tiny…
I did go into GCC a while ago — there's one in the neighborhood — but the only ones they had that I liked were part of third–party sets.
posted by mhz at 12:40 PM on December 8, 2011
An IKEA 2 x 4 Expedit is $70. It's about 15.5" deep. On its side it's about 31" high. You can buy casters to put on the bottom if you want to raise it off the floor or just have it be wheelable - I think they were $10 for a set of two - it needs four. We have a bunch of them in various sizes (5x5, 2x4, 1x5, 2x2). Even though it's not solid wood, it's very sturdy and handles being moved around a lot.
Then at Target they have these fabric bins called "Itso" (here is a link to the full-size brown one) that come in a bunch of colors/patterns, fit exactly inside the Expedit cubes, and are $10 each. They are sturdy and well-made, and they even fold down when you're not using them. We have a bunch of these as well; we use them for children's clothes storage and for toy storage. The boxes are quite deep and hold a lot, so they may be a little awkward for grown-up clothes depending on how full you want to fill them.
However, altogether that solution costs $150 - with the casters, $170.
posted by flex at 7:24 AM on December 16, 2011
Then at Target they have these fabric bins called "Itso" (here is a link to the full-size brown one) that come in a bunch of colors/patterns, fit exactly inside the Expedit cubes, and are $10 each. They are sturdy and well-made, and they even fold down when you're not using them. We have a bunch of these as well; we use them for children's clothes storage and for toy storage. The boxes are quite deep and hold a lot, so they may be a little awkward for grown-up clothes depending on how full you want to fill them.
However, altogether that solution costs $150 - with the casters, $170.
posted by flex at 7:24 AM on December 16, 2011
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posted by raisingsand at 4:21 PM on December 7, 2011