Drawers

I think drawers in bedroom furniture are too deep and not wide enough. And we might want to have more of them.

Having read Marie Kondo, I like the idea of not stacking clothing. Stacking does not encourage the frequent, easy assessment of items in inventory. Out of sight, out of mind. Out of mind, out of use. And if an item is out of use or in only very occasional use, the meaning of carrying it in inventory begins to be questionable. I like things that are easy. I don’t like to have a hard time. When I have a hard time, I struggle and life become an endurance rather than an hedonic, self-evident satisfaction. I want my furniture to encourage the easy management of inventories.

With wider drawers, there is more potential to group clothing by type. Par example: Pull out a drawer and voila: all my pants. What joy and satisfaction. And with more drawers, more groupings.

I was sharing this opinion with a dear friend and colleague who rebutted: What if you’re like me and you have a ton of pants? Well you need to fix yourself. I never said that the concept was meant to be mainstream. No–it is deliberately fringe. You can stack a lot of pants in an 8″ deep drawer. Eliminate that possibility with a shallower drawer. I only have 7 pairs of pants at the moment and I don’t wear shorts because they creep me out. 7 pairs of pants can easily fit in one shallow, wide drawer i.e. <5″ high in a 60″ wide case piece.

If you have an 8″ deep drawer wide enough to accommodate 2 facings of pants and you only have two pairs of pants in the drawer, you feel that you are not utilizing your space effectively. Why is the drawer this deep if it is not meant to be filled? It is that deep and it is meant to be filled. You itch to fill the empty space in the volume. So you subject yourself to the ordeal of trying on jeans–a mortifying trial. After 3 weeks of hard labor you have one, perhaps two more pairs of mediocre jeans to place underneath the pants that you actually like to wear to bring those closer to the surface. These act as space fillers, if you will. You might do an assessment in 6 months and find that you never really wear these pants (80-20 rule) and put them in a bag and bring them to the thrift store. You cannot throw them away. You paid for them. They are valuable. Some fortunate soul will certainly see their value among all the other jeans in the line up.

With 4 elevations of drawers the general measurements of the case could remain the same, or you could shrink the height of the case a little and keep 3 elevations. Both have their merits, however, I think I prefer the idea of a lower dresser and a separate chest. A lower dresser would allow for the potential for a larger, taller mirror, placed closer to the ground affording a better view. I like a mirror. And I like a low case. If the room were large enough, perhaps you could accommodate for extra case width with two drawers per elevation and the ability to have 3 or perhaps 4 facings of clothing per drawer. Très chic. Non?

I understand that material has limitations, and that drawer slides have recommended maximum widths, however, work to overcome these limitations and push the envelope. I want furniture that supports the fringe, bohemian life that I want to live.