Keep it close to the chest

A chest of drawers can be custom-made to fit your requirements. (Photo: File/Standard)

A chest of drawer is a home’s best friend. Behind their prim and proper appearance, they are a fantastic at hiding away the clutter. Commonly used for storing folded baby clothes that constantly threaten to bring down a room with unruliness, a chest of drawer is a quick solution for your bedroom storage and can be placed in almost any room in the house, from bedrooms to dining rooms or even corridors.

The advantage of using chest of drawers is that they can be custom-made to suit your exact requirements and there is a solution for even very tight spaces in smaller rooms. They are fantastic to use in bachelors’ studio rooms, which sometimes offer no wardrobe storage.

If using a local fundi ensures that good quality rails are used to accommodate the weight of the drawer and efficiently, provide smooth opening and closing of drawers. The chest of drawer knobs and handles are a key factor to consider as they determine the look and feel you want to create in a room.

Country feel

If you prefer the traditional look, then look for brass like knobs that give a country feel to the chest of drawers.

For effectiveness, always contrast the colour of the knobs from the colour of the wood so that the knobs stand out and of course good quality knobs usually give you good value for your money and will not need frequent replacements like their cheap counterparts.

If using the chest of drawers in a bedroom, consider getting matching bedside tables, if space allows which will not only complement the chest of drawers but provides classy unifying pieces of functional furniture in the room.

When purchasing, it is important to check the depth of drawers and note that shallow drawers are more effective than deep drawers.

It is tempting to dump all paraphernalia on the top of the chest of drawers.

Refrain from doing this and instead place a vase of flowers or baby pictures, a jug of water with glass or a decorative item that is eye-pleasing, which constantly draws you to gaze at the timeless piece of art that is your chest of drawers.