The Valuable Vintage Piece That Adds Storage To Your Closet Space

Mixing antiques with contemporary furniture is a tried and true method to give overly-modern interiors more charm as well as more value. In fact, no room is off limits when it comes to displaying your latest show-stopping vintage find, including the closet. A sophisticated dresser or chest of drawers from centuries past, for example, would not only look right at home in this area, but also represent a worthwhile investment which could increase in value over time.

Raia Auctioneers' Bene Raia is especially fond of "Hepplewhite or Sheraton-style [chests] of drawers," she revealed in a Martha Stewart feature. The auctioneer and appraiser loves the "understated elegance and clean lines" of this Georgian neoclassical furniture. In a closet space, it serves the functional purpose of increasing storage without sacrificing style. With that said, because these pieces date to the 18th and 19th centuries, getting your hands original Hepplewhite and Sheraton furniture will not come cheap, with prices at popular resale market websites and auction houses starting around a few thousand dollars and up. The good news is that this style of furniture is still highly influential, so you may find modern pieces with similar characteristics at much friendlier prices.

These styles originate from George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton, purveyors of neoclassical decor in England. Their furniture also became popular in America, and its appeal cannot be dissociated from the appeal of neoclassical design as a whole. In Hepplewhite and Sheraton's time, artists were reconnecting with the more austere and elegant principles of classicism after expressing boredom with opulent styles like Rococo. Classical designers of the Georgian era valued simplicity, symmetry, and quiet, refined details, which is what makes their furniture so flexible and easy to integrate in modern interiors. Within the widespread turn towards vintage furniture in interior design, British and American neoclassical furniture is particularly trendy thanks to its penchant for mahogany, walnut, and oak woods in polished finishes. Since dark wood furniture is making a big comeback at the minute, Hepplewhite and Sheraton-style chests and dressers make perfect additions to any closet space.  

These pieces are either straight-lined or feature a bow front typical of the Georgian period. Their legs are minimally decorated, most often straight, though sometimes fluted or reeded, and their drawers are commonly framed by simple yet sophisticated inlay in contrasting woods or metals like brass. Hepplewhite and Sheraton-style chests and dressers look beautiful dressed up with other vintage vanity accessories, mirrors, and art, or dressed down next to pieces in a more contemporary style. Though furniture flippers love giving these beauties a fresh coat of paint, covering up their gorgeous solid wood frames would be a disservice to the craftsmanship of their makers, so opt for restoring and maintaining the original wood whenever possible.