New Bedroom Dressers with Mid-Century Styling

The search for new dressers is finally over!  When we moved into the lakehouse, two years ago, our master bedroom had one maple dresser on loan from my Mom (plus the vintage Mingo chair and mint side table):

After my Mom and I sewed the first set of back tab curtains in a bold, teal print, I shuffled some furniture and replaced the mint chair with our black organic chair.

I am so grateful to my Mom for loaning us a dresser because when we downsized from our three bedroom townhouse to our two bedroom lakehouse, we lost a lot of closet space and found ourselves needing a dresser for the first time!  I immediately started the quest for a replacement but I was disappointed by my first choice, dissuaded from going with some Ikea units, and discouraged by my local mid-century finds.  After short-listing many options and rejecting them for various reasons, I renewed my search at the end of last year, tirelessly checking out the options at every local furniture shop and large retailer in my small city.

I hadn't tried Leon's Furniture at that point so my Mom and I took a look around.  I was surprised by what Leon's had to offer - they had some really stylish, very modern dressers, some of which are even made in Canada!  I ended up finding two styles that appealed to my mid-century modern aesthetic: the (now discontinued) cherry veneered Noma (top) and the walnut veneered Roxy (bottom).

At the time my local Leon's didn't have either model on the floor and, although ordering in the dressers was no problem, I really wanted to see a better photo first, so I started perusing Leon's Instagram, searching for more photos of either dresser.  (I like seeing furniture in homes to get a better sense of the scale and finish).  I ended up chatting with their Director of Social Media, who invited me to collaborate on their new blog, Hello Yellow - you saw the start of my bedroom makeover for Hello Yellow when I revealed my new white glass sliding closet doors.  (You can read my newest Hello Yellow post here).

Part of my bedroom makeover includes two new dressers from Leon's, but that meant finally decided between the two dresser styles!  I loved the mid-century feel of the Noma, but the walnut veneer of the Roxy was quite striking.  In the end, I chose the Noma because I wanted to maximize storage (it is quite a few inches taller, wider, and longer than the Roxy) and I loved the curvy drawer fronts. 

When it was delivered I was a bit puzzled by the finish, which didn't look like the "cherry veneers in a graphite finish," described on the website.  

I was picturing a stain similar to the bench in this bedroom, which I hoped would pair well with the teak and walnut furniture in the rest of the house.  While in the photos I've taken it looks like an espresso finish, in real life the cherry wood beneath the stain really warms up the colour, so it looks more like chocolate - a really warm, rich brown.

Leon's was more than happy to let me swap out the dressers for any other pair I fancied, but I decided to live with the darker finish for awhile because the size fit our room so perfectly - I didn't want to give up an inch of storage.  So I kept them, and spent a lot of contemplative hours in here...

After living with them for a few days (and checking out my local Leon's, which by then had the Roxy in store), I couldn't bear to part with these dressers because I absolutely love the shape - especially the legs, with their retro metal foot caps!  The curvy draw fronts really remind me of vintage dressers like this one and this one, but with more height and spaciousness than any vintage piece I've seen.  Plus the quality is great: the drawers slide smoothly and both pieces feel really substantial and sturdy.

I looked at some mid-century dressers that I had pinned to Pinterest and realized that the darker stain was quite fetching and actually somewhat era-appropriate, demonstrated by this lovely 1950s Edward Wormley piece.

1st Dibs

While I contemplated the finish, anyone who walked through our doorway was immediately ushered into our bedroom and polled: "what do you think of these dressers?"  Most everyone agreed that while they are darker than my usual style, the dark stain really complements our DIY black welded headboard and vintage Hungarian posters.

And so, after much agonizing, it was decided that the dressers would stay!

The room feels so much more pulled together now - here's a sneak peek with the new tweed curtains:

I used my new camera for some of these photos and there's a learning curve - for sure - because I just haven't accurately captured the stain  or the brightness of the room.  I'm slowly improving and when I've got the hang of it, I'll re-take some photos of the bedroom.  In the meantime, now you've seen the progress being made in the space!

I was provided these two dressers by Leon's Furniture but was not prompted or encouraged to provide a positive review.  I had short-listed them long before we started chatting about a collaboration - getting to partner with a brand that I would happily purchase from is always the best kind of arrangement.  I've been very happy with the service from Leon's - they even offer once weekly delivery to folks in the sticks around here (thank you!).