BH | Studio Étretat Curved 3-Drawer Dresser

The commode, a low chest of drawers made to stand against a wall, was a French invention of around 1700, and under Louis XV its makers curved the fronts into waves that caught the light. Normandy, where the white cliffs of Étretat meet the Channel, kept its own strong tradition of carved country furniture, and the low, softly shaped chest has been a bedroom staple on both sides of that water ever since.

This one is low and compact, about waist height, with three deep drawers whose fronts ripple gently across the width, a curve repeated in the shaped plinth below. With no handles to break the line, the Almond or Hazel wood grain runs clean across each wave. The drawers are generous for the size: folded shirts and sweaters in one, pajamas and socks in the next, spare bedding at the bottom. It is sturdy engineered wood with a smooth wood-grain laminate. Assembly is required.

It is made for smaller rooms: a studio apartment, a guest room, a college dorm or a child's bedroom, where a full dresser would crowd the floor. It also stands in as an oversized nightstand beside a large bed, giving far more storage than a bedside table, or as a hall chest for gloves, chargers and mail. Almond or Hazel suits a Scandinavian or Japanese-leaning room: hang a round mirror above, then add a paper lantern and a vase of dried grasses. This listing is for one dresser.