Triple Dresser

Three vertical banks of drawers in a single case defines the triple dresser, most often nine drawers in three rows, sometimes with a shallow row of three across the top. Width reaches 66 to 84 inches, height stays low at 30 to 34, and depth holds the family standard of 18 to 20. Length is the whole proposition, which is why this piece gets bought for the wall first and the storage second.

Two vertical dividers cut the top into spans of only about 22 inches each. The panel cannot dip anywhere along its six foot run even under a heavy mirror or a row of framed pictures. Drawers get the same benefit. At 20 to 24 inches wide they are the squarest running boxes in the family and the least likely to bind. Width does nothing for stability, though, and that surprises people. Resistance to tipping forward depends on how deep the base is, how much the case weighs and where the load sits. So an 80 inch dresser goes over just as readily as a 54 inch one of the same depth. Long cases also want two anchor points rather than one, set toward the ends where they can resist a twist.

Double dressers do the same job in 52 to 66 inches and fit an ordinary bedroom wall. A tall chest takes the storage upward instead, freeing floor and losing the surface. Media consoles are the only other bedroom scale furniture this long. They sit about 6 inches lower with venting a dresser has no reason to include. Two nightstand chests flanking a bed cover similar drawer volume where no single wall runs long enough.

Long bedroom walls of at least eight clear feet are the entry requirement, and rooms that meet it gain a surface no other case piece offers. Two people with heavy folded wardrobes and a small closet get the most. Anyone hanging a wide mirror or a run of art above the dresser will find the low height flattering to both. Rooms broken up by doors, windows or a radiator rarely have the run. Buying one before a likely move is a mistake, since an 80 inch case is a two person lift that clears almost no stair turn.

Press down at the middle of each span to check the top for dip before buying. Adjust the feet once it is in place, because a long piece on an uneven floor twists and the drawers begin rubbing on one side. Set both anchors, load the bottom drawers heaviest, and wipe spills off that long top the same day.