Dresser

The traditional use of dressers is for clothes storage, specifically smaller and more intimate items that don't need to be hung in a closet. Wooden bedroom dressers are probably what come soonest to mind when most people hear the word dresser, but dressers can be located anywhere in a home and used for storing a variety of items besides clothing.

This mental association between dressers and clothes is due not only to the dresser's traditional use, but also its name. Contrary to what you might think, the term dresser isn’t a variation on the English phrase "get dressed." The English "dresser" actually derives from the French word dresser or dresseur, which means "prepare.” Clothes dressers then are the places one goes to prepare for the oncoming day. If you didn't already know that historical tidbit, "prepare" yourself for further revelations when you read our medley of informative articles about dressers.