Home > Woodworking Plans & Articles
Design Details Make the Difference
This is the first of a two-part series demonstrating how detail changes can transform a case or cabinet project from simple country to a more formal style. Alternatively known as the Eight-Drawer Dresser Dress-Up!
It all started with a client who bought a four-drawer dresser in cherry because he liked the simple design.
 |
|
The four-drawer chest, made for the bedroom, in cherry. |
Some years later the client came back with the need for more storage, but in a showier style. I designed for him an eight-drawer chest based on the four-drawer version I'd made previously (see below). It's quite a bit showier in that I used the combination of a painted carcass highlighted with figured maple counter and drawer fronts. Also, the length alone enhances the formality of the bureau. I've never seen an early example of a long dresser like this - one with two banks of drawers. Still, its New England lineage is obvious. The reverse ogee bracket base, the simple molding detail along the top edge and the scratch-bead on the drawer fronts all are signatures of rural New England cabinet shops of the 18th and early 19th centuries.
 |
|
The Eight-Drawer Dresser or Server. With a long top and lots of storage, this piece is equally at home in a dining room, bedroom, or entryway. |
 |
|
|
|
|
Eight-Drawer Dresser Specifications Dimensions
63 3/4 in. wide, 16 in. deep and 33 1/2 in. high
Materials
Tiger Maple, Eastern Pine and brass hardware.
Finish
Latex paint, aniline dye, shellac and varnish |
|
|
|
A case piece like this can be transformed into a higher style with just a few alterations. I discussed using scale, wood selection and finish concepts to achieve a showier objective above. In the sketches below, note how raising the height of the base and giving the bracket feet an elegant ogee make the chest stand slightly prouder. Adding another molding step around the top, visually projecting it up and out, gives the necessary balance between the top and the base. When combined with more ornate hardware, this chest can be used in a much more formal setting.
Because this chest (and most of my furniture) is meant to recall an earlier time, I try to duplicate the look and feel of something old. By rounding over edges, wearing through the finish on corners and by adding scratches and other evidence of wear, the piece more closely resembles an original, which would have acquired these characteristics over time.
Ogee Bracket Feet are now available at Classic Designs. Choose from two styles in three woods plus trim mouldings.
 |
| Chippendale Ogee bracket foot in tiger maple |
|