Furniture: How to source the perfect vintage chest of drawers

The ultimate in classic storage, chests of drawers  are popular second-hand buys for their craftsmanship and practicality

Some battered examples of soft-wood chests may be better lightly repaired and left in-the paint. Picture: iStock

There are design moments that never get old. The glass lemon juicer, the cantilevered dining chair, and the box containing the suite of moving storage boxes — the chest of drawers. It’s still the ultimate example of exquisitely tailored blind storage.

Chests of drawers in classic, antique form come in a variety of sizes and profiles and they remain wildly popular second-hand buys for their craftsmanship, practicality and visual appeal. Together with plain, country furniture in oak and pine (still plentiful at any mixed auction) good Georgian examples of drawered furniture have not tumbled in value like standard “brown furniture” from the mid-19th to early 20th century.