Louis Philippe Chests- A Dresser Style That Can Be Made Over To Look Expensive

 

I stumbled across a fantastic blog called Life in The Fun Lane the other day and I was pleasantly surprised.  Don’t we all want to be in the fun lane in life? Everyday armed with a smile and jetting on the highway of happiness? Holly Baker is the author of this splashy blog, which includes pictures of her home renovations in more than a few pages of her blog.

At first glance, you can tell she has incredible taste, but you will also notice that she also isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty as she includes several painted furniture makeovers in her own home.

After browsing through her home pictures I couldn’t help but notice the Louis Philippe chest in her home.  Being a furniture painter myself, I knew these chests didn’t come with industrial pulls, and the builders options for this chest are always white, and black and cherry veneer.

So it was a nice surprise to look at her version of this terrific chest.  As you can see, she took off the traditional bail pulls, and instead put on door pulls.

In the past, I have loved the way these industrial pulls have looked, but they never looked quite right on my furniture.  Combining the  rustic look of gray and steel just goes hand in hand.

The Louis Philippe furniture collection features good looks with lovely clean lines and a bit of detail.  If you are after a streamlined chest, this might be for you.  The first time I came across a (modern) Phillipe Dresser, I just had to get it.   I used to paint furniture and resell it.  I personally have had the chance to buy the 6 drawer Louis Phillipe dresser twice, in addition, I have also sold a pair of the nightstands. All three sets were painted black, as all of the furniture was bought used, so they had scratches that needed to be sanded out.   From my experience, let me tell you about these chests…..

The Advantages:

If you are looking for a really nice looking dresser, with classic looks, this dresser certainly pleases the eyes. It has very attractive lines, and a bit of detail in the molding around the top of the dresser.

The Drawbacks:

This set is made of selected hardwoods and veneers. The only draw back to these chests are they are made of composite woods, which means they are not made of solid wood. This dresser is good for staying in one place and not being moved around.  I moved the dressers that I had painted, and although they didn’t damage them, it wasn’t good for them either.

This dresser does not hold up well to wear over the years. In fact, if you were to accidentally drop the chest while you were bringing it into your home, it would dent it permanently.  This is what happened to one of the nightstands. We accidentally dropped it, and it bent the corners of the wood. While most chests made of solid wood would scratch, these chests would be permanently damaged.  In addition, you would NOT want to put these chests in moist conditions.  The wood on the drawers would expand.  These sets are heavy, but the quality of wood is not so great.

These dressers operate on sliders. If you have seen an Ikea dresser, you know what I am talking about. Vintage and antique dressers often have middle support sliders, and wood separating the drawers. The modern day dresser doesn’t even use plywood, they use something similar to cardboard. I cannot remember off the top of my head what separated these drawers, but I believe it was the metal gliders. The draw back to these metal gliders is the drawers slip off of them so easily. On another note, they glide in and out, and function with modern smooth cabinetry.

If you are the sort of family that moves around A LOT, forget about this set, because it will get damaged over time. If you are intending to buy it once, and keep it in the same spot, it really is a great deal for the price point. It is one of the nicer dressers around for the price, but the construction isn’t top quality. For a little more than $300, it is a very nice looking dresser, you have to agree~

 

 

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