Best Cabinets & Chests

You storage needs is one thing, but you cannot just choose any cabinet you like. It's important to consider the best shape for your available space. Here's our top tips:

Rectangle

A rectangular cabinet will fit in most places and should match any decor. Thanks to its shape you'll have a maximum amount of storage space, making it a good choice if you have plenty of items to store and a good sized room.

Corner

If space is a little on the tight side, you could consider a corner cabinet. They are designed to fully utilize the corner of your room. While they provide less internal storage space than a rectangular model, they are extremely useful, especially in high passage areas where you may otherwise be unable to squeeze past a bulky cabinet.

Demi-lune

This type of cabinet features a flat back that rests against your wall, and a curved front. Thanks to their curved shape they offer a good amount of storage capacity, although they are less suitable for high traffic areas with limited space.

Style-wise, the shape pairs best with vintage, traditional, eclectic, and shabby chic decors. With little to no ornamentations and silver leaf finish, the piece will also look stunning in a contemporary glam setting.

Accent chests are available in a wide variety of different styles. Here's a selection of the most popular.

Colored

Colored chests stand out and make great accent pieces. A chest with a simple, bright block color is a great way to bring a touch of fun and modernity to your room. Otherwise, muted monotones go well with a more traditional decor.

Hand painted

Add a touch of individuality and class to your home with a hand painted chest. As each model's finish is unique, these cabinets tend to work well as statement pieces and may feature elaborate designs.

Motifs

Pick a chest with coastal motifs for your bathroom, or a floral one to pick up natural elements from your living room decor. Carved eastern designs are also popular and look great in eclectic style homes or they can also liven up a more traditional decor.

Utility

Metal chests have an undeniably utilitarian feel to them, even if you are only using yours to store your paperwork and gadgets. If you want to dress down your decor with a no-nonsense style, then a no-frills utility chest is the way to go. They can also complement a minimalist decor.

Traditional

If your decor is more traditional, country-cottage style, then you may want to opt for a classic wooden chest in a natural finish. You could also go for a version with wicker baskets instead of drawers for a quaint, whimsical appeal.

Display

Show off your collection of porcelain or antique medals with a glass-fronted display cabinet. Whatever you have to display, if you have a traditional decor or eclectic, look for a version with an interesting background to draw the focus into your cabinet and onto your collection.

Apothecary

These chests feature multiple small drawers, making them ideal for organized storage. Separate your items into categories and store them without fear of losing them or mixing them up. Apothecary chests come in a range of styles and they also are an excellent choice for storing sewing and crafting materials.

There are plenty of different types of cabinets and chests available, consider the following cabinet storage options, to find one that works best for you.

• Open shelving - Ideal for towels and medium sized items that you need to access frequently. Just be aware that unless you regularly organize and tidy your open shelf cabinet, it can easily become disorganized and start to look messy.

• Solid doors - Cabinets with solid doors allow you to store large items and conceal their presence. You can also store a multitude of items of various different sizes in different containers behind closed cabinet doors, for a neat and tidy finish.

• One solid door - The best of both worlds, have your good-to-go, frequent use items stored on open shelving and messy, bitty items or unsightly ones concealed behind the solid door.

• Glass doors - Antiques, china and collectibles all look great in a glass-door cabinet. If you want your items to be on display, then it makes a great option.

• Full width drawers - Full width drawers allow you to store and organize medium sized items that would get mixed up in a cabinet, but are too bulky for smaller drawers, such as hair styling tools, larger craft supplies and accessories, etc.

• Apothecary drawers - Apothecary drawers are a great choice for when you have a lot of small items that need to be organized and separated from one another. Apothecary cabinets make it much easier to find your keys, earphones and charger when you're heading out the door.

Your ideal cabinet for your bathroom is probably going to be very different from the one you have in mind for your office. Let's consider what you need to look out for.

Bathroom cabinets

• You'll want your bathroom cabinet to have a durable finish that can live up to the high humidity levels in your bathroom, so choose solid wood models with a sealed finish. If budget constraints mean you need to go for MDF, choose only reputable sellers. When not properly sealed,MDF cabinets can be damaged if water penetrates the surface.
• If you are using your bathroom cabinet to store towels, you may like to opt for a one door model with open shelving. Use the open side to store your rolled up bathroom linen for easy access, and store cleaning products and small accessories neatly out of sight in the cupboard side.
• If it's for beauty products alone, an apothecary chest with plenty of small drawers makes an ideal choice to neatly organize your creams, cleansers and cosmetics.

Kitchen cabinets

• Kitchen cabinets with wheels are a popular choice, allowing you to wheel your cabinet to wherever you need it most when you're busy cooking up a storm.
• If you are looking to store kitchen accessories such as knives, chopping boards and oven mitts, then you will want a model with plenty of full width drawers.
• On the other hand, if you are looking for a cabinet to display your fine china in your kitchen, you'll want to go for a glass door cabinet with shelves and standard legs.

Office cabinets

• Home office cabinets can also benefit from wheels, especially if you have limited space.
• It can be useful to have both drawers and shelves. This enables you to store larger items such as folders and paperwork, as well as smaller accessories, including pens, paperclips and staplers, without losing them.
• You may also like to consider an office cabinet with doors providing a larger space to store your laptop and even your printer, leaving your desk clear and accessible for other activities such as craftwork or other hobbies.