Utility furniture

The bedroom furniture my parents bought me when I was 14 was by Vanson. An up market brand sold in Heals. Wow who knew.
Dad must have had a bonus. Lucky me not that I knew that at the time. Their shopping town was Canterbury and I expect thry bought it in a shop called Nathans I think or Masons. Where they must have bought their Ercol pieces.

When I left home at 18 my parents had the Vanson dressing table and wardrobe in their bedroom for 30 years.
Makes me a bit tearful to think of that.

Shill29 I bet those drawers slide smoothly.

I’m still using the two sets of drawers from a bedroom set that I had 76 years ago when I was 2. They have been repainted several times and the dressing table mirror removed. The last time was last year when I also changed the drawer knobs. The drawers are so much roomier and well made than those you can buy now.

Flibberty99

JennyRenn it doesn’t have a maker name on it but it does look like the Gomme ones.

Yes, just the handles seem to be different.

My aunt had a cream and red painted cupboard with the pull out metal shelf which I think was aluminium. Their shelf pulled out I seem to remember not flap down. My parents had something similar in cream and blue but didnt have a flap or shelf. Such a useful piece of furniture. Drawers, cupboards amd work top.

When I had a bedsitter in 1970 I had a similar one with a Baby Belling to cook on.
I suppose young people now would need an air fryer, microwave, blenders etc and loads of work top. Coffee machine and more. I could move bedsitters with just a suitcase, Casa Pupo bedspread and a lamp..and did quite often.

I could live in a bedsitter quite happily now!

Flibberty99 my daughter took hers when she moved house. It was all one colour and never stained though.

Maybe they dark stained them if the wood was mismatched, Casdon and left them otherwise?

AuntieE, Yes my parents had one too! Ours was cream, and my mum did use the fold down flap. She would sit me on it to dry me after a bath in the kitchen sink, until the day I fell off into the red tile floor.

SueDonim Yes that’s the way I’m thinking right now, just oil it. That’s what the strippers suggested too.

JennyRenn it doesn’t have a maker name on it but it does look like the Gomme ones.

My parents had a kitchen cabinet of thin metal, painted light green on the outside and white inside, it had two top cupboards above a fold-down flap that had cupboard space behind the flap that was hard to reach into when the flap was down.
There were two cupboards under the flap as well.

The flap did not work well, so we never closed it.

I understood this to be Utility furniture, but perhaps I am wrong.

My parents married in 1947, so most of our furniture was what my grandparents could spare, supplemented with bomb-boxes, cartridge boxes and orange or sugar crates that my mother converted into useful small cupboards.

She had apparently been thrilled with the metal cabinet - the only piece of entirely new furniture she possessed, apart from my moses basket and baby bath of paper-maché.

That’s the style my parents had, Flibberty. Those wooden handles - I can imagine the very feel of them right now.

I’d keep your chest of drawers as it is, it has its own beauty, with the differing woods.

We had such solid furniture growing up huge solid teak pieces of wardrobes, dressing tables and chest of drawers. The type that you could climb on as a kid. I remember my dad and uncles swearing profusely when we moved house and they had to move said furniture. Sadly i could not have it when parents passed and went in house clearance. I have wasted so much money on Ikea "furniture" wish i could have kept them now.

We have a utility table and chairs in our kitchen .Belonged originally to the DH’s parents. Still sturdy and strong.

Flibberty99

I have a classic utility chest of drawers, now very fashionably Mid Century Modern of course. It was left behind by the previous owner in the first flat I bought in the 80s. It had many thick layers of paint on it so I recently had it professionally stripped. They did an amazing job because the ply laminate is quite fragile. The only issue being that it is made of several different coloured woods, reddish brown drawers and much lighter ply on the top and sides. I’m currently not quite sure what to do with it - even up the colours potentially with wood stain or just accept them as is and oil it. To my eyes it is very beautiful though, and very much in vogue.

Could that be by E Gomme Ltd who later went on to become G Plan? The style looks rather similar to mid-century G Plan.

Flibberty99
That is the same chest of drawers I had in my shared bedroom when I was 6. So 71 years ago. I think my sister had a large dressing table. I had a much smaller one. Which may have been victorian. When we moved when I was 14 my parents bought me a 60s dressing table, wardrobe and chest of drawers. Not Stag nor Gplan but similar. I still have the dressing table and chest of drawers in our spare room here. The wardrobe we left for the next owners with their permission when we sold my parents' house 30 years ago. I hope they aee still using it as it was simple and timeless.
I shall be sad if I have to downsize and leave them behind.

When my mum died I gave away the utility furniture she had. I really wish I’d kept it.

My son has his granny's utility sideboard which is still quite serviceable and quite nice to look at because it isn't heavily varnished. My own sideboard is an Arts and Crafts one that my grandparents had. I think it may have come from Belgium and I've always liked it.

I have a classic utility chest of drawers, now very fashionably Mid Century Modern of course. It was left behind by the previous owner in the first flat I bought in the 80s. It had many thick layers of paint on it so I recently had it professionally stripped. They did an amazing job because the ply laminate is quite fragile. The only issue being that it is made of several different coloured woods, reddish brown drawers and much lighter ply on the top and sides. I’m currently not quite sure what to do with it - even up the colours potentially with wood stain or just accept them as is and oil it. To my eyes it is very beautiful though, and very much in vogue.

My parents had utility furniture in their bedroom. They had a double bed, wardrobe, dressing table with triple mirror and a tall boy. I know they had bedside tables but I can’t now visualise them. They were light wood, probably beech, and Arts & Craft style, with frames round the edges of the doors, like a Shaker style. The wardrobe was fitted out with hanging rails, a full length mirror and a tie rack. I think but can’t quite recall, that the lid of the tall boy either lifted up or there was a top shelf that pulled out for access.

It all went when they downsized in the 80’s. I didn’t even know it was utility furniture, or what that even meant, back then! I still have a utility sewing box. It fell to bits some years ago so I had it restored. It had a pink silk lining but I changed it to green. It’s on tall legs so it can act as a small table, though it’s next to a bed at the moment.

This is what Safari says
Characteristics of Utility Furniture Finishes

Authority and Standardization: The government's Utility Furniture Advisory Committee, led by Gordon Russell, focused on functional, honest construction using available timber like oak, beech, and mahogany, often paired with cheaper secondary woods or plywood.

The Dark Finish: Because timber supplies were restricted and varied widely in quality and color, manufacturers often applied dark stains or varnishes to create a uniform, respectable appearance that masked mismatched woods.

Contrast with Pre-War Styles: While pre-war commercial furniture was often heavily ornate and dark, the Utility scheme aimed for clean, simple lines inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. However, the practical need for a standardized protective finish meant that dark varnish remained very common.

I have had several utility pieces and so have some of my friends.
I never saw much of the dark varnished sort - most people I know had paler woods.

Presumably, as eddicat says, they wanted a change from the Victorian dark woods.

I think the utility furniture must have looked very modern and desirable to young families. Don't forget those young married couples would have grown up with very dark ornate Victorian and Edwardian furniture.
The items I inherited were quite pale and "arts and crafts" in style.

I think we’re in tune HelterSkelter1. I do like some utility furniture, it’s just that the vast majority was of the dark brown, heavily varnished, and heavy plain shapes, which people probably didn’t love even then, but there was nothing else available. Your father obviously chose well.

That furniture is so much more durable than the chip board items you get now. These days one sneeze and these things fall apart! I know that the dark colour is not to everyone's taste these days but it can be sanded and painted, I need bedroom furniture and wish i could get one of those lovely sets of wardrobe, dressing table and chest of drawers. the wardrobes usually had drawers underneath marvellous for out of season jumpers or blankets sometimes with shelves inside, one i had had one shelf labelled hats!

Casdon I know what you mean but the utility furniture we had was a light oak and had curved sides and doors. It has been likened to Arts and Crafts in design. The designs were simple and solid.
The heavily varnished pieces I agree were ugly. Maybe we were just lucky. My dad's desk is probably oak or walnut and is a light colour. I still have their Ercol pieces. Table and chairs and a bureau. So I am lucky. They are valued now for their design, workmanship and simplicity.