Children's Chests of Drawers

From small drawers in which to keep hidden treasures, to larger drawers packed full of favourite jumpers and t-shirts, giving your children access to their own place to store and organise their possessions is key to introducing independence and responsibility to their lives as they grow up. Of course, finding the right chest of drawers for children is no mean feat, but with more and more retailers starting to design and market products designed for smaller users, buyers are finding that children’s chest of drawers are a useful and beneficial addition to a child’s room.

What is it that differentiates a children’s chest of drawers from a regular one?

The idea of a chest of drawers is that it allows you to organise your belongings in some kind of visually tidy order, with the user able to open a drawer and look down into it to see what they want to pick up. The key word here is look “down” into the drawer – something which, understandably, means we have to be taller than the chest of drawers we are using in order to be able to do. As such, it is impossible for very small children to have a chest of drawers that they can use, with retailers tending to provide small floor tidies for younger children as opposed to stacked drawers. So, what is it that retailers are now doing to make sure that children can effectively use a chest of drawers for its optimum purpose?

• The chest of drawers are designed to sit shorter, to allow children to stand taller than them, not just able to see the entire drawer but also able to use the top surface for display purposes


• The drawers are all much shallower, allowing children to reach to the back of the drawer easily


• The drawers tend to be made from a much more lightweight material so that children do not struggle to open them


• The handles tend to be easier for small hands to grip, without the hazard of small fingers getting trapped. This means no hooks, but rather very solid handle knobs which are easy to grasp


• They are decorated to suit the bedroom of a child, and often come with built in drawer tidies. If the drawers don’t come with their own tidies, you can always purchase foldable ones which slot neatly into the drawers and allow your child to separate their items and possessions

The aesthetics of a children’s chest of drawers

Often buyers will find that a chest of drawers comes as part of a bedroom set, though if you are purchasing a standalone item these are readily available across most high street furniture retailers as well. One thing we always recommend is to measure the space your chest of drawers will be filling, not just in terms of width but also depth and height. Likewise, check the floor is stable and flat enough to provide a really solid base for your drawers, and where possible consider attaching the chest to the wall from the back to be sure that it can’t fall and cause damage to the room or a child. In terms of the design itself, consider the lifespan of the chest of drawers and how many different thematic changes you want it to live through. Where possible, opt for neutral colours and natural materials which will suit any colour pattern or design trend, and last a long time with careful use and regular cleaning.