Victorian-style furniture is a type of furniture that originated during the reign of Queen Victoria in the United Kingdom (1837-1901). It is characterized by its ornate, intricate, and eclectic design, which reflects the social, cultural, and economic changes of the Victorian era.

Victorian Furniture can be identified by:

• Ornate Carvings: Victorian furniture often features intricate carvings, including floral patterns, foliage, and other decorative motifs.
• Upholstery: Victorian furniture often features plush, overstuffed upholstery in rich fabrics like velvet, silk, and leather.
• Dark woods: Victorian furniture often features dark, rich woods like mahogany, walnut, and oak.
• Intricate details: Victorian furniture often features intricate details like carvings, moldings, and inlays.

Victorian-style furniture remains popular today, with many designers and manufacturers incorporating its iconic elements into modern designs. When luck is in our favor, we may find ourselves locating antique and vintage pieces that were produced during the era. I have found no such luck. Other times, we’re just viewing pieces that are merely inspired by the defining characteristics, ones that were produced anywhere from early 1900 and onward.

My newest project is just that, an inspired piece- a dresser, or a chest of drawers as they’re sometimes called. What drew me to this dresser was a the fancy details on the drawer face. The swirls. I had also never seen hardware very much alike what this dresser has, triangular in shape with a white floral-like symbol in the center.

I’ve had a lot of difficulties identifying when and where this furniture was manufactured. For all other dressers with similar styles, hardware, and dovetail joint appearance, lack of metal drawer slides- no ballpark date was posted. I tried uploading images onto a few Facebook groups I am active in to get others’ opinions, and no luck there either. It’s definitely disappointing. However, if I had to guess, I’d say between 1930 and 1950. I’m curious to see what you think, please leave a comment below if you have a better estimate.

I purchased this desk from my local Saver’s for $15. Here it was it looked liked before:

Handcrafted Renewal:

1. Drawers were removed and inside and outside of dresser and drawers were vacuumed and thoroughly washed.
2. Hardware was removed and cleaned. A new set of (two) drawer knobs was ordered for the top drawer as one of the knobs was missing and a matching set was needed.
3. Veneer on dresser top was removed with warm towels and an iron.
4. Dresser top was sanded down to raw wood with multiple grits and an electric sander.
5. Remaining surfaces on the dresser were scuff sanded.
6. Wood epoxy putty was used to repair any damages to veneer and/or wood moldings.
7. Dried epoxy areas were sanded smooth after drying.
8. Entire furniture pieces re-washed thoroughly to prepare for stain and paint.
9. Dresser top stained with Dark Walnut stain and coated with two layers of polyurethane.
10. Remaining surfaces painted with 2-3 coats of chalk furniture paint in the color, Cream in my Coffee, an off-white/beige color.
11. Hardware was reattached.

Product Description:

• Height: 44 in.
• Width: 33 in.
• Depth: 17.5 in.