Bedroom Furniture - Julian Bowen

Selecting Bedroom Furniture

How to buy: bedside cabinets, chest of drawers, dressing tables, stools and wardrobes.

Bedside Cabinets

The most popular bedside cabinet consists of 3 drawers or sometimes one drawer and a cupboard. You can also get bedsides with 2 drawers that are lower and are particularly suited to sit beside low bed frames. If you choose a bedside cupboard ensure you specify that the cupboard door opens away from the side of the bed - otherwise you'll need to climb out to get access to that bottle of brandy.Also bedsides are usually a few centimetres less deep than a full size chest of drawers. Bedside drawer depths can also be shallower. It is fair to say that most bedside cabinets are more suited to storing socks than Shetland jumpers.

Chest of Drawers

Chests of drawers are specified by their drawer configuration. For example a '3 + 2 drw chest' is a chest with 3 wide drawers and 2 small drawers at the top. The small drawers are half the width and are often shallower too. There are often options to have an extra deep drawer at the bottom of the chest - ideal for those big jumpers. If you can't find the option you are looking for, phone us and ask. There may be combinations that are not shown on the website.

There are various features to look out for when choosing your chest of drawers:

1. Easy glide metal runners - very easy drawer opening.

2. Drawer checks - stops drawers being accidentally pulled out of a chest. There may be times that you want to take a drawer out of a chest but a drawer check stops at least one of those childhood accidents just waiting to happen.

3. Solid ply or wooden drawer bases - low cost drawers will use hardboard that will bend with time and may eventually fail. Regarding plywood, it's a common misconception that ply is inferior to traditional tongue and groove wooden drawer bottoms. Good quality ply drawers can take the weight of a fully grown sales consultant. Ask one to show you. Solid ply is OK.

4. Dove-tailed drawer fronts - dovetails are an interwoven wedge arrangement between the drawer front and the drawer side that ensures the drawer front can never be pulled off. Again ask a sales consultant to give it their biggest pull. OK bed consultants are particularly puny.

5. Non stain tops - wet cups, especially if hot, will quickly mark a wooden chest even if the chest has been protected by a lacquer. A melamine or similar finish is better for resting that early morning cup of tea.

Dressing Tables

You can choose either a single or a double pedestal dressing table. A pedestal isn't the plinth of a statue by the way: it's a set of drawers or cupboard that the dressing table top sits. A single pedestal dressing table is supported at the other end by legs or sometimes a solid side panel. A double pedestal dressing table has 2 pedestals at either end of the table. Most dressing tables are lower than a desk and to sit comfortably at a dressing table you will require the matching dressing table stool. If you want a dressing table that doubles as a writing desk it is best to check out the dressing table height. Desk height dressing tables do exist (a standard office desk height is 75cm and office chair height is 45cm).

Dressing Table Stools

Dressing table stools are normally lower than a standard dining or office chair. They usually come with an upholstered seat pad that is designed to be easily removed to be re-covered by a local upholsterer in the fabric of your choice. Indeed, sometimes the seat pad may come separately from the stool and will need to be fastened by yourself before use.

Wardrobes

Modern houses often feature built in large wardrobes. However, if you aren't lucky enough to have one of those fitted large wardrobes, we sell very well priced large stand alone sliding door wardrobes, 4 door wardrobes etc.Our large wardrobes come unassembled because they need to be built in situation. However, despite their low cost, it can be a false economy to try and build them yourself. The weight and sheer size of the components add a degree of difficulty to the build. It is our experience that you are best to use an assembly service rather than struggle with DIY. A typical build cost is £40 to £50. No bedroom floor is flat and this creates a challenge for self assembly and even fully assembled wardrobes. Often when a wardrobe is put in location the doors appear to hang at an angle. For this reason most wardrobe doors are fitted with adjustable hinges. However it is often easier to wedge a corner of the wardrobe with cardboard rather adjust the hinges. Many assembled wardrobes come with castors. These castors are fitted to allow transport of the wardrobe across the factory floor. You can keep these castors on, but they are designed to be removed. Finally if the bedroom is small, a wardrobe with built in drawers can be a great space saver. Wardrobes with drawers are a bit more expensive but the total cost of the combination wardrobe is still considerably lower than a buying a wardrobe and a separate chest of drawers.