Okay, I have a few pictures. These may be gone by the time I decide...but there are always more being listed on CL. I really like the painting/colors on the first one, but it's only 18" deep. That's too shallow for what I need, but I could make adjustments, when I add the top. Maybe bring the dresser out from the wall a bit....

And this one has better dimensions, but it might be too big. Also, I would need to paint it. And the curvy top (while pretty) is going to be more difficult to cover with a new surface.

I really like the cream and jade green....so the first dresser is probably going to be a huge inspiration piece for my kitchen, whether I buy it or not :)

I'm not much of a baker so not much help, but I have to say the first piece above really speaks to me about your particular decorating style (although both are very pleasing.)

The painted one needs a new top, anyway, so if you can figure out how to deal with increasing the depth of the top, it might be a good match (maybe a better price, too?)

I wonder if you could score some kind of stone remnant for a top...since the size isn't too large. (I can already tell your CL is better than ours, so I'm dreaming for you.)

Thanks, Mudhouse. That first dresser is totally my 'vintage' style :)

As for the top, I'd love to do marble! But I would need a piece that's not too heavy. Maybe bring the dresser out about 3" from the wall and have a slight overhang on front and back? Or do I need to somehow attach it to the wall, for more stability? Any ideas?

Also, I should add my mom would like butcher block (which is also good) but both will be within a foot of our 'hard water' sink. So would there be a better surface?

How easy are the drawers to pull out? If my hands are all doughy and I need a pan or a scraper from the drawer, I want to be able to use one hand. How is the height for you?

This would be multi-purpose (small kitchen) but the cream dresser is supposed to have very smooth drawers. Not sure on the second one. It's snowing today (can you believe it?) so I won't be seeing them until tomorrow...if they're still available.

Height wise, I'm hoping for the standard 36" which is kind of short for me. I'm almost 5'11" so lower baking surfaces are too short for me. Mom said she'd like it for mixing ingredients and chopping veggies (close to sink) but also across from wall oven.

I'll have to post pictures of my dirty kitchen (LOL) soon, since we're staying! They'll make good 'before' photos :)

If it's for baking, marble is an ideal surface. I have a portable marble slab ( Like This) that I grab out of my cabinet and put on top of my pull out bread board whenever I roll out pastry. It makes such a difference.

So, if you go with the butcher block top for your mom who wants to use it for chopping vegetables, you could always put a marble slab on top when you need it. That will also raise it slightly for you. You just have to find a place nearby to store the marble slab.

Most dressers are 30"-32"H, which is too low to use in a kitchen. I had to wait quite a while to find one that was tall enough to use as a counter in my laundry area with a piece of butcher block. The drawers are awful, but that's OK, because they just hold junk. For something that you want to store rolling pins and possible baking ingredients inside, it wouldn't work. You'd want to find something relatively modern, with good quality drawers, and then you can paint it and add vintage knobs or something.

We actually used a dresser as our makeshift kitchen when the real kitchen was torn apart. We just happened to have a dresser that was 34 1/2" tall (basically counter height), and Ikea just happened to be selling $20 1/4" thick glass toppers for their Malm dressers that perfectly fit the top of our dresser. The glass worked very well as a counter top. Flat, smooth, and easy to clean.

I filled the dresser drawers with dishes, put the glass on the dresser, and put a hot plate to one side of the "counter," which left a roughly 4' wide work space. And then we had a mini fridge next to the dresser and next to the fridge, we had a rolling TV stand with a microwave and big basket for holding pantry items on it.

The 1/4" thick glass top felt pretty flimsy, but I cut things on it and never babied it because it was a $20 piece of glass from Ikea. We just sold the whole dresser and glass top on craigslist yesterday after using this set-up for a year? year and a half? I cleaned everything really well before we sold it, and amazingly, that glass was still in PERFECT condition. Not a scratch on it! If you were interested in glass, I'd suggest going a bit thicker than a 1/4", but anything thicker than that would probably work great.

So from that wealth of experience, I see only these downsides to your plan:

1) It is a total pain in the neck to clean under and behind dressers, even if they are places right against a wall. Normal cabinets, by virtue of being attached to the wall and having toe-kick do not have this problem. I cannot stress enough what a big humongous pain this is.

2) Dresser drawers aren't usually made to hold stuff as heavy as dishes. The bottom part of the drawers is usually a pretty flimsy piece of something thin. I was concerned about our drawers holding up, and they were fine, but the bigger the drawer and the heavier the items in there, the more this will be an issue.

3) Old dresser drawers don't roll in and out that well, and if you add the weight of dishes to that situation, you may have a really hard time opening and closing your drawers.

Personally, I find issue #1 insurmountable, but #2 and #3 just depend on the drawer construction and are just a matter of finding a dresser with good drawers.

I don't have one in my kitchen, but I made three bathroom vanities from them and LOVE them. The one below is 34.5" high with the granite, and the others are about the same. All of my drawers are cut out to accept the plumbing, and have great storage. You wouldn't even need to do the cut outs. I buy remnants from the local stone yard/fabricators to get the best price on the tops. I think you'd really enjoy one in the kitchen!

That looks amazing my3dogs! Makes me want to start hunting for an old dresser.

Memphis- One dresser is 34 1/2" tall and the other is 36" tall. They're both on casters, so they could be a bit shorter, if necessary...depending on what counter top we choose.

Edible- A marble slab would be great! I have a possibility (also on CL) but I need to check dimensions. I can't believe how many people don't post these!

Jill- All good points. I don't plan to store heavy things in the dresser. Probably measuring cups and spoons, frosting/decorating equipment and cupcake liners, etc. All the heavy stuff will be over by the oven (right across) in real cabinets.

My3dogs- Lovely dresser. I'm also thinking about doing one in the bathroom. We'll see how well it works, in the kitchen :)

Also...I found a bank of 4 drawers on CL for $40 (slightly used, looks great) and may just build/have brother build a base cabinet for the sink. Then use a fabric/curtain to cover the opening below the sink. I have to redo the floor anyway, so might as well go under the sink and dresser!

Can you do an entire kitchen remodel on CL and Goodwill? Maybe I'll try it! Not only is it less expensive (and I do love cheap) but it would be unique, too. The challenge is to stay focused on EXACTLY what will work in the space and not get sidetracked. I am going for vintage...not flea market rejects :)

I once had a dresser in my kitchen. I mainly used it to store linens, trays and serving pieces that I didn't use daily. The drawers didn't open with one hand but for my use at the time, it was no big deal. Filth underneath? Yeah. It was like a magical magnet for dog hair and dust. That's what vacuum hoses are for! I just kept bowls of fruit and onions on top and a cookie jar, not used for prepping, so I'm not much help with that. From your descriptions of our taste, flowers, bunnies and such, I think an unfitted kitchen would suit you wonderfully.

Lavender, I just came across this blog that used a school desk as a cabinet, complete with marble laminate top. Kitchen photos 1/3 of the way down.

OOh, scroll down a bit further in Laughable's link and see the bunny wallpaper in the powder room under the stairs!

I have and use an old dresser in my pantry, which is where I do most of my baking prep. I have a taller than average counter in the pantry over the basement stairs, so needed something that would allow me to get to the right height. This is about 3/4 of an inch from the countertop in height.

I did not at the time add drawer glides and that was a mistake. The drawers in this piece are particularly sturdy, but the lack of guides in humid mid-coast Maine means I have some sticking in the summer months. I am planning to instill drawer glides this summer.

I have a poly-ed wood countertop on the dresser now, but just this weekend purchased an old marble-topped bureau specifically for the marble top. The top will go on as soon as I can manage. I love it.

This photo is from when we put the pantry together.

I found the dresser at a yard sale and just bought the marble top dresser from CL. I've also had good luck in antique shops -- I have quite a few marble pieces.

A dresser like mabeldingeldine's can have a dark painted board installed at the bottom, behind the face, to act as a mop board that will keep the dust bunnies at bay. I'm pretty sure those aren't the kind of bunnies you are going for. ; )

LOL laughable!

I had almost the exact dresser as pic #1, although I used mine in the family room as the TV stand and extra storage. I think they are both so pretty! I think it is a great idea to use one in the kitchen!

Laughablemoments and Jillius are right on with some of the concerns. The drawers did sag and stick, and eventually one did separate the front from the rest of the drawer. I was storing all kinds of random stuff in them and the weight was too much, although except for a few extra baking dishes, none of it would you think of as particularly heavy. A lot of the furniture of that style, from that era, was massed produced and rather cheaply made (relatively -- for example, the dovetails on the drawers are not very deep and the bottoms, sometimes even the tops, are thin.) So you will have to look at the piece you are considering carefully. I would definitely consider using the frame and drawer fronts but do a sort of Ikea interior drawer thing.

The new old dresser that I am using now does have pretty smooth sliding drawers, for wood -- I rubbed paraffin on the parts and will have to do that periodically to keep them working smoothly (learned that from my grandma).

Do you like Duncan Phyffe style? I have an old mahogany veneered dining room suite (buffet, server, china cabinet) that I think could work well in a kitchen, although I don't know if the veneer would hold up in a kitchen-- my buffet has lost a chip or two.

I don't think, for the curvy dresser, that you need to worry about matching any top to the curves. If you place a straight edged piece on top, that projects only slightly past the wood or to the edges of the most forward curves, the curves will still show and look like nice detailing. I would round the front corners to match.

I see marble topped dressers and buffets on craigslist and estate sales a lot.

By the way, when I put my old dresser on craigslist, even with the broken drawer I had a bidding war and it was gone within the hour!