I also saw somewhere that they were used as a raised garden bed. Kind of like how people build the frame and fill it with dirt, only I think they nailed or screwed them together and then filled them with dirt. Not sure if they took out the bottoms. They would rot if you didn't. I would also put sealer on the drawer sides so they last at least a few years. And for that matter, you could put them on table legs for a waist-high raised bed. I've been seeing a lot of those for people with bad knees and bad backs. Just throwing out another idea..... Alicia

Thank you 2 Wisconsiners for the vote! Jan, the following link shows what that space looks like now. Builder's special, really nothing to look at:-( http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/msg071721106786.html Here is a link that might be useful: powder room

I had almost the exact dresser as pic #1, although I used mine in the family room as the TV stand and extra storage. I think they are both so pretty! I think it is a great idea to use one in the kitchen! Laughablemoments and Jillius are right on with some of the concerns. The drawers did sag and stick, and eventually one did separate the front from the rest of the drawer. I was storing all kinds of random stuff in them and the weight was too much, although except for a few extra baking dishes, none of it would you think of as particularly heavy. A lot of the furniture of that style, from that era, was massed produced and rather cheaply made (relatively -- for example, the dovetails on the drawers are not very deep and the bottoms, sometimes even the tops, are thin.) So you will have to look at the piece you are considering carefully. I would definitely consider using the frame and drawer fronts but do a sort of Ikea interior drawer thing. The new old dresser that I am using now does have pretty smooth sliding drawers, for wood -- I rubbed paraffin on the parts and will have to do that periodically to keep them working smoothly (learned that from my grandma). Do you like Duncan Phyffe style? I have an old mahogany veneered dining room suite (buffet, server, china cabinet) that I think could work well in a kitchen, although I don't know if the veneer would hold up in a kitchen-- my buffet has lost a chip or two. I don't think, for the curvy dresser, that you need to worry about matching any top to the curves. If you place a straight edged piece on top, that projects only slightly past the wood or to the edges of the most forward curves, the curves will still show and look like nice detailing. I would round the front corners to match. I see marble topped dressers and buffets on craigslist and estate sales a lot. By the way, when I put my old dresser on craigslist, even with the broken drawer I had a bidding war and it was gone within the hour!

I have repurposed dressers for kitchen use. The thing I've noticed that you'll want to be careful of is to check just how sturdy the drawer bottoms are. The drawer storage is wonderful (!) as long as those bottoms are beefy enough to hold all that you'll be tempted to store in them. Some dresser drawers are rather thin and wimpy.