Oak Blanket Chests and Coffers

A blanket chest is the oldest piece of furniture there is: a box with a lid. Everything else in a house has been reinvented; this has not, because nothing stores bulky soft things better than a deep box you drop them into and shut. It goes at the foot of a bed, along a landing, under a window or in a hall, and it works as a seat while doing its real job.

What makes a good one

Panelled, not boarded. A chest built as six flat boards nailed together will split, because solid timber moves across the grain. Ours are framed and panelled, the panels sitting loose in grooved frames and free to move, which is why panelled chests survive centuries and boarded ones do not.

A lid that stays where you put it. The lid is heavy by design, so the hinge and stay matter more than anything else on the piece.

A base that lifts it off the floor. A plinth, bun feet or stiles running past the carcase. A chest sitting flat on a stone floor takes up damp.

Enough depth to be useful. A chest that will not take a folded double duvet is an ornament.

The pieces we make

Carved blanket chest. Carved detail to the front panels and rails, cut into the solid rather than applied.

Plain blanket chest. The same construction with raised and fielded panels — the panel standing proud in the middle and chamfered away at the edges. The version most people choose for a bedroom.

Coffer, #925. The traditional panelled coffer, with a moulded lid and stile feet running past the carcase. The most archaic form here, and the one that reads oldest in a room.

Box settles. A chest with a back and arms, made in 3ft 6in and 6ft lengths alongside two-person and panelled bench settles. See settles and benches.

Timbers

Oak, cherry, mahogany and walnut are the standard four, and every chest and coffer is made in all of them. Oak is the traditional and much the most common choice, and the carved patterns are usually specified in it.

Specials, on application: character oak, with knots and movement left in, which suits a coffer better than almost anything else we make; pippy oak for lids; oak selected for medullary ray; and clean timber with no knots at all.

Finishes: polished, painted, limed, sand-blasted, rub-through paint, natural, or colour matched. Sand-blasting works particularly well here, eroding the softer growth and leaving the harder grain proud, so a new chest reads as long-scrubbed. We can match furniture that is 100 years old to new reproduction purchases made the year before.

Order free timber and finish samples. A chest at the foot of a bed sits against the bed frame, so it is the two together you are matching.

Made to your size

Common changes: length set to a particular bed or the space under a window; depth increased to take bedding; height set so the chest works as a seat; a lift-out tray inside; carving added to a plain pattern or left off a carved one; a lock fitted.

Cedar lining is available as an option — the traditional lining for a chest that holds wool and blankets. Ask for it at the drawing stage rather than afterwards, because the lining goes in as the carcase is put together.

If what you want does not exist yet, our designers draw it first. See bespoke and commissioning.

Prices

Quoted individually, because the size differs every time. Tell us the size, the timber and finish, and whether you want carving, and we will give you a guide price. Special timbers and finishes are on application. Lead time is typically ten to twelve weeks.

Frequently asked questions