Dressers are pretty good for stashing photo albums and entertainment stuff like CDs and DVDs. Sometimes they're more plentiful on Craigslist than credenzas, buffets, and sideboards, too.

Love them. Also, so much nicer than mounting a flat screen on the wall.

None of these are actually dressers except maybe in picture #1 because it has all drawers.

I actually don't know how to tell the difference between a "bedroom dresser" and a living room storage unit. I think everyone in my immediate family (stylish or not) has something in their living room that I'd call a dresser (all drawers). Is there an actual difference I am missing?

I have a dresser as a landing strip in our living room. I have it's matching bureau in the dining room housing linens and odd dishes. The set is one of my favorite finds. They're a gorgeous Danish mid-century mod set that a neighbor had for sale in his driveway for $100. I talked him down to $50 and he even delivered it! The storage is wonderful and the lines are beautiful.

I have my mom's childhood dresser in my dining room as a buffet. It's been repainted black, and the pulls have been replaced with modern nickel handles. It's really handy for large glass dishes, placemats, napkins, and serving dishes. Just hide them in the drawers, and you don't have to take out half your stuff to get one item.

I've used dressers in my living room for 20 years. Right now it's a wonderful danish modern 6 drawer one I got for 25 bucks.... they hold everything and have a nice surface area.

Aren't some of those credenzas and not dressers?

We have our TV on a dresser. It's definitely a conversation starter, which is funny because we never really thought twice about it! We just needed somewhere to put our television and couldn't buy a media stand.

I like it a lot for storage, but the problem is that it sits just a bit higher than what I'd consider to be a comfortable tv viewing level. But whatever, it works for now. :)

I have been using an antique dresser from the 1940's as storage in my living room for about 6 years. It was an absolute necessity living in a farm house that was over 100 years old. We have since moved (to a home with closets) and I am still utilizing the dresser as storage in our living room. It is perfect for storing table linens, serving utensils, DVDs, etc.

"Aren't some of those credenzas and not dressers?"

Yes - Dressers are all drawers.
Credenzas have doors with shelves - and may or may not have some drawers as well.

Interesting that this post doesn't include Armoires - They're not only good for TV's, but for several years my folks used an armoire in the dining room as a place to stash table linens as well as glassware and bottles of wine.

it's interesting to me that this is even noted. i thought this was pretty standard. on this site you see more dressers/credenzas than media stands in the living area.

I have a vintage furniture store and people are always coming in and trying to find the perfect piece for below their new flat screen. I very often suggest low boy dressers, and very often they leave happy campers.

I think furniture usage is only limited to the owners imagination and guts to try something different... who says you can't have old speakers as your coffee table? Or a drafting table as your kitchen island?

I love it :)

I always find we have too many desks in my family...my mom too, incidentally they are great in living rooms. I don't think i've ever put my tv on anything else.

This post is right up my alley! I have been thinking of using a dresser in my living room to hold media (and some clothing) since my boyfriend is moving in and we need more storage... didn't think it would look too great. These examples are more than stylish though! I know that it is common to use dressers/credenzas to store linens and perhaps use as a landing strip but I would be concerned about the height if using it to hold a TV.

Re: the difference between a credenza/buffet/sideboard and a dresser, yes the difference I guess is all-drawers vs. drawers and doors, but I have both a dresser and a chest of drawers, which have doors w/ drawers behind the doors, if that makes sense- both are in our bedroom, but still the look is doors, not drawers if that makes sense.

Love the concept. But is it really a concept? It's sort of like, common.

Love #2

This might be a dumb question, but if you use a dresser as your TV stand where does the DVD player go? You would already have to put the DVR/cable box up on top of the dresser, and I think a DVD player would end up making it look too cluttered. And it wouldn't fit in a drawer...

I love the look in the first photo, but it just doesn't seem practical, and I think something with cabinets would work out better.

i've been using a malm dresser and love it. tons of storage for dvds and random plugs. the top provides enough surface for my tv, cable box, a vase, and a large piece of artwork (which is casually propped so it leans against the wall).

it was supposed to be an 'in the meantime' solution until i found the perfect teak mid-century credenza...but i quite like it now....

I'm using a vintage dresser for my TV stand. And RE: Where does the DVD player go? I've changed out one of the top drawers. The drawer front is still intact, but I've modified the drawer itself, removing the sides and back, and inserting a piece of wood to act as a shelf. Then I added inside hinges to to the bottom of the Drawer front, so it flips down. The dvd player sits on the shelf, and when not in use, it's flipped up, & you can't tell that one of the drawers doesn't actually pull out. There's a small drill hole in the back for cord organization. I love the piece and won't be letting it go any time soon (hopefully!), so not concerned that it's lost some of it's "dresser" function for clothes storage.

I've had a 1960's dresser in my living room for years, and it stores mostly clothes. I bought it awhile ago and when I moved it didn't fit in the tiny bedroom of my 1940's apartment. It's low and has all drawers, but there are doors on both ends that hide the drawers. I took the mirror off, and it just looks like a credenza. The apartment is small, so I don't really mind having to go into the living room for my clothes.
We tried putting a tv on top, but it was too high for us and size of it dominated the dresser. We got rid of the tv, and now use projection against another wall.