The chest of drawers has long been a staple piece of bedroom furniture all over the world. This functional piece adds much needed storage while also providing some display area for photos and trinkets and the like. Over the years, however, this piece has fallen into a bit of rut, design-wise. Boring, cookie-cutter dressers and chests with five or six equally sized drawers have become the norm, and are what most of us have in our bedrooms. There are alternatives to these ho-hum pieces of bedroom furniture that can add some style and flair while still serving the purpose of storage. Here are a few of them.

The lingerie chest is a tall, narrow set of drawers that is ideal for an additional storage piece or for those who only require minimal storage. This piece commonly has seven small drawers stacked one on another, the seven drawers representing the days of the week. While the lingerie chest was designed to store undergarments and such, it can serve many other purposes as well. With its slender, space-saving design, the lingerie chest is ideal for rooms with limited space, such as dorm rooms and smaller bedrooms.

Another option is the sometimes quirky mule chest. The mule chest has no standard set-up, really, but it is often defined by a small square storage area with a door instead of a drawer. This door area can be set in the middle of the piece or in one of the upper corners. This set-up leads to the piece having a few different sized drawers and gives it a bit of an antique or hand-crafted look. Mule chests are usually larger than standard chests and many can work in the living room as well as the bedroom.

Finally, a media cabinet may be what you need to organize your CDs and video games, or to store your television or computer. Like the mule chest, there is no set design for the media cabinet. Many are geared toward teens while some give you a stylish, sophisticated place to discreetly store electronics and accessories.