The Roar + Rabbit line at West Elm is part of a collection created via a partnership between West Elm and the Philadelphia based creative design firm Roar + Rabbit (or is it Roar & Rabbit? Their website shows both). Probably the most advertised of the collection are the geo inlay pieces which include a nightstand, 3 drawer dresser, and a 6 drawer dresser.
The 6 drawer dresser comes in at 54″ wide, 16″ deep, and 34″ height which makes it honestly a great size — not too big, not too small, should be able to work in almost any environment and though as a dresser it’s intended for a bedroom, it would do just fine in a more public part of the home.
The first thing you’re likely to notice about these dressers is the “geo inlay” gold striping which creates a series of straight edged shapes across the front of the drawers. Like most brass looking things at West Elm, this isn’t actually brass, but is a metal with a brass finish. While we didn’t notice any obvious weaknesses in the finish, if it were to wear over time we don’t think it’d look good and it certainly would be annoying to try to repair considering the mango wood (more on that later). But more importantly, we just don’t love what the inlay does for the piece. We think it feels a little out of place and doesn’t really make up for the lack of hardware such as handles or knobs which may have been nice additions. At the same time, it doesn’t leave room for those things to be added should you want to customize your dresser. That being said, it certainly is better than had they not added anything at all, and does add a specific sense of a style which might be enjoyed more by someone else (you, perhaps).
We do love the triangle legs Roar and Rabbit chose, we think they complement the wood beautifully and add a noticeable yet welcome touch of design. Again, brass finished, but easier to patch if anything goes awry here, and far less obvious to begin with should that be the case.
Additionally, this dresser feels pretty sturdy. We can’t say the same for the nightstand and even the 3 dresser drawer didn’t feel quite as glued to the ground, but because of the width and size wobbliness doesn’t seem to be much of an issue. It does come with anti-tip hardware so we’re guessing on a less straight floor there might be some issues, or this could be standard with the line due to the balance issues the smaller pieces have. Anyway, something to note, though with the 6 drawer dresser we couldn’t get it to budge.
Construction-wise we’re looking at mostly standard dado and [fittingly] rabbet joints, pretty common for cabinetry & makes sense for a dresser. Nothing too fancy, but much better than a bunch of screws & butt joints, and so we’re not worried about the actual unit starting to peel apart any time soon nor would we expect any current balance issues to get worse due to build issues.
The drawers are on metal glides which function fine, but most of the drawers themselves had issues with getting stuck in the frame. Because this happened on several of our drawers, we’d think it’s a common issue and while it’s not game breaking it’s frustrating and not easily solved for.
The wood is mango and so looks similar to the industrial line of furniture at west elm such as the industrial console and coffee table. This is a hardwood and won’t damage easily, though we do note that mango really loves to absorb and show any sort of liquids/stains, especially water. This is why as mentioned earlier we think if you ever wanted to re-finish the metal inlay you’d be in for a tough job, as any liquid that hits the wood is likely to be there forever. FOR. EVER.
At $1,399 we think it’s a tad overpriced but not awful and definitely on sale the pricing makes sense. Good piece, not great. If you love the inlay, we think it’s a good purchase which will make you happy when you look at it, possibly afford you the frustration of a stuck drawer, and last you as long as you can stand it.
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