Wycombe 5 Drawer Chest Black

Solid oak, finished black, 980mm wide and 955mm high.

This is the Wycombe 5 Drawer Chest in black — solid oak, five drawers in three sizes, just under a metre wide and just under a metre high. Black is a decision rather than a default, so it is one worth standing in front of. The fairest way to judge it is beside the oak version, which is worth asking for when you call into the Ballincollig showroom. Email info@mulberryhouse.ie for stock & delivery questions, any time now.

Who it’s for

Someone who has already decided the room needs an anchor rather than another pale piece. A black chest reads heavier than a light one at the same size, so in a small, dim room this 980 × 955mm case will feel bigger than the tape says; in a bright room, or against a dark wall, it does the opposite and recedes. Inside, the drawers come in three sizes — 355 × 335 × 71mm, 780 × 335 × 131mm and 780 × 335 × 181mm — so the shallow ones take small items and the two 780mm sizes take the folded clothes. The one honest caution is upkeep: a black finish shows dust and fingerprints sooner than a pale one does. If nobody in the house will run a cloth over it, buy the oak.

Chosen by Paul

Paul says: “Black always looks well under showroom lights. Look at it in your own room at four in the afternoon in November — that’s the test that counts.”

Same case size as the oak Wycombe, specified in solid oak and finished black.

What you’re getting

• Solid oak, finished black.
• Five drawers in three sizes.
• Shallow drawers: 355 × 335 × 71mm inside.
• Middle drawers: 780 × 335 × 131mm inside.
• Deep drawers: 780 × 335 × 181mm inside.
• External size 980mm wide × 450mm deep × 955mm high.
• Assembly required; one box, 51kg gross.

Measure first

The case is the same size as the oak version, so if you have measured for that you have measured for this.

The drawers are 335mm deep inside a 450mm case, so allow about half a metre of clear floor in front for one to come fully out; the 780mm drawers are wide as well, so watch the corner of the bed and the door swing. One thing particular to a dark finish: think about where the light falls. Directly opposite a window, a black surface shows every speck of dust in the afternoon sun. Along the same wall as the window, it does not.

See it before you buy

Black is the colour a screen renders worst: what your monitor shows is not what a black finish does under a bedroom light, and no photograph tells you how a 780mm drawer runs when you push it home. Heritage Walk, The Quadrants, Ballincollig, Co. Cork (P31 W968), seven days a week, no appointment needed, and nobody will hurry you. The floor here is rotated, so rather than assume this one is out, tell us you are coming and we will have it up from the store room — or ordered in within a few days — for you to look at properly. Get directions

Living with it

Oak moves with the seasons. When the heating goes on and the air dries out, a drawer can tighten; by spring it eases again. That is the timber doing what timber does, not a fault. New drawers are stiffer than settled ones, and the wide 780mm drawers want pushing home square from the middle rather than shoved at one corner. The finish asks a little more of you than a pale one: dust it with a dry, soft cloth, keep solvents and kitchen sprays away from it, and put something under anything metal left on the top. If a drawer drags, rub a household candle along the runner.

Delivery, assembly & aftercare

Allow around four weeks from the day you order it.

We deliver across Cork and nationwide, or you can collect from the showroom at no charge. The date is agreed with you and confirmed before you pay.

It arrives in one box at 51kg and needs assembling. Two people, and build it in the room it is going to stand in. Keep your hands clean while you do it — a dark finish shows what pale ones hide.

Any question, any at all: email info@mulberryhouse.ie and a person in the showroom will answer it.

Questions people ask

Is this the same chest as the oak Wycombe?
Same case size, 980 × 450 × 955mm, and the same drawer sizes. This one is specified as solid oak in a black colour; the light one is MDF with oak and pine.

Does black mark easily?
It shows dust and fingerprints sooner than a pale finish. A dry cloth once a week is the whole of it.

What fits in the shallow drawers?
They are 71mm high inside and 355mm wide — socks, underwear, jewellery, chargers. Nothing folded and bulky.

How heavy is it to get upstairs?
51kg in one box, flat. Two people, and it is easier boxed than built.

Does it need assembling?
Yes, and it comes in a single box.

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Mulberry House. Your Home.