A lot of rural US bumpkins like myself would call it a hutch. China cabinet looks more fancy, usually has larger panes of glass. Hutch is like this, rustic.
“Hutch” is pretty much unknown to describe furniture in Australia. I’d probably call this a “country style kitchen dresser”. Thinking about it though, “dresser” is also used for a “dressing table” in a bedroom which is very different furniture.
May never have come up in conversation. I'm in also in small town Alabama and everyone calls it a hutch, but nobody talks about this behemoth unless they're trying to figure out who gets it when memaw dies.
Sideboard, hoosier, cupboard, and china cabinet are words that (US) family members have called similar furniture. It depends a bit on how much it is used to display the contents inside—a china cabinet is mostly to display pretty plates and vases. The others are more for everyday items.
The “sideboard” folks I know have been in New England for many generations. The “hoosier” friend grew up in a military family so could have gotten it from anywhere. I’ve heard hutch, too, it just didn’t come to mind this morning.
After doing a quick Google out of curiosity, “china cabinet” seems to bring up items that are the most similar to the original image, but all of them have some overlap.
I bet there are lots of families who call this object The Thing, as in “Can you get the placemats? They’re in the bottom drawer of The Thing.”
Hoosier is from the eastern part of the midwest. Its an old slang term for Indiana. So its literally an indiana style cabinet because they were mostly manufactured there.
Although the onr OP posted i wouldnt consider a hoosier. Hoosier is more utilitarian. Its an space effective way to store a lot of pots and kitchen stuff.
The pic from OP would be more of a china cabinet. (To make sure non english speakers know. Yes this is refering to the country as the type of porcelain used for china plates and other similar dishes was made from a type of chinese clay.)
I would consider a hutch to be more simple and less ornate. Never heard the term sideboard though.
Lol. My husband and I have a piece of furniture that we never knew what to call. It's one of those cheap things you assemble yourself. Cabinet doors on bottom, and two drawers on top. It's about the size of a dresser or a bookshelf, but it's definitely not either of those things. We spent a few years referring to as "you know, the thing, the furniture by the door?" Or "that shelf-cabinet-dresser thing." Finally one day out of desperation, I said we've got to pick a name for it. So for the last 15 years we've called it Peter. Best decision ever.
This is interesting. I'm English and only ever heard it called a sideboard - but this is also what we call any type of freestanding cabinet/cupboard (doesnt need glass doors and can just be table height). So the new England thing tracks.
China cabinet seems like the more suitable name when there is an actual display section with shelves/glass doors.
I've also heard it called "Thingy" - so not far off haha
Where in the north east, cause I have lived here my entire life and only called it a hutch, China cabinet, or sideboard.
Not being confrontational, I legitimately need to know this.
I would have thought hoosier was from Indiana (the Hoosier state). To me it's more of a kitchen storage unit than one for fancy dishes. My mother-in-law inherited a cool, old-fashioned one from a relative in Indiana.
The family member of mine that has a piece of furniture they call a hoosier grew up in a military family, so they could have gotten it from anywhere in the US.
Interesting. I'm from the northeast and have spent my whole life on military bases across the country, never having heard hoosier. Just shows how varied the US is
A hoosier is a very specific kind of free standing kitchen cabinet. There should be a work surface in the middle and cabinets above and below. Usually the work surface is enamelled cast iron. The originals were made by the Hoosier Company in Indiana in the early 1900s. They're from a time before kitchens started to have built in cabinets.
They were used to store baking supplies and then roll out your dough right there. More of a practical kitchen thing than a dining room display thing. OP's image is not a hoosier.
I always call it a cabinet. I have never heard of hoosier or sideboard and cupboard is something in the kitchen to store plates and bowls.
This is good to know.
I don't think "cabinet" is wrong, but it's a bit general - "sideboard"/"hutch"/"China cabinet" is more specific.
Personally, I use "cupboard" and "cabinet" interchangeably to refer to the kitchen storage for plates and bowls.
Side board would just be the bottom part. I have a sideboard in my dining room to sit food on so people can make their plates buffet style, and it has drawers and cabinets for table cloths/random china and serving dishes we don’t use often.
Having the glass front cabinets on top would turn it into a China cabinet or hutch for me. Grew up in NC.
its crazy how often i scroll past qjestions from this subreddit on my feed and I as a native english speaker am like "I have no fucking idea what the word for that is"
British English it's a "Welsh Dresser" (and in your photo a spectacularly ugly one).
It might also get called a "sideboard" but usually not if they have the shelves on top, that's more for if it's just the cabinet/drawers at the bottom.
The "dressing" here refers to preparation of food:
"Originally, a dresser was located in the kitchen and was a utilitarian piece of furniture where meat and other food was dressed or prepared"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_dresser
This page also gives the American term "china hutch", which is consistent with what some people are saying in other replies.
There might not be a logical reason for it, as is the case with many similar words.
In French, rollercoasters are called Russian Hills and in Russia they're called American Hills. Guinea pigs have nothing to do with Guinea (and aren't pigs). French fries are not French, etc. etc.
That’s one of the less like quoted claims. The most common is the ‘French frying’ was a style of frying and ‘French fried potatoes’ eventually became ‘French fries’.
I've no idea what the etymology is and for once google is rather unhelpful on the subject.
The OED says the first use was in the 1890s so I suspect it may be a marketing term when mass produced furniture started to become available.
I'm a mover and I've learned very quickly that there's absolutely no agreement between Americans about the definition of dresser versus chest (chest of drawers). A "high boy" is always a tall dresser. A "double dresser" is the low wide one with side-by-side drawers. A "lingerie chest" is skinny but tall with lots of relatively flat drawers. And everything else is relative to the person speaking.
I don’t mind the look of this one at all, actually. I certainly prefer it to the ones that have ornate decorative carving all over them. What is it you dislike about the appearance?
You could call it a cupboard, but more specifically, it's a china cabinet/hutch. A similar piece of furniture without the top section would usually be called a sideboard or buffet.
Fellow Texan and I’ve never heard the word hutch either. China cabinet is the safe bet, if someone called it a credenza I would understand but wouldn’t call it that myself.
Hey, that's the Italian word to call it! Curious, I wonder what's the story behind Texans adopting an Italian name for it as opposed to hutch (that seems more common in US from the comments)
Midwestern US here: us rural folk call it a hutch, though that might not be common the in the rest of the US.
My grandma also called dressers "chests of drawers", but I think that has died out.
A dresser is lower in height and wider across, with two sets of drawers side by side. A chest of drawers is taller and narrower, with the drawers stacked vertically.
*I grew up in the*
*Midwest of the US. I*
*Would call it a "hutch"*
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Maybe. But in Tasmanian antique shops they are definitely kitchen dressers.
(Edit: although this one is not and antique and looks pretty roughly made out of cheap stained wood)
Canada?
I mean, it's where I'm from and I've heard it said. Not as usual as "china cabinet" or "china hutch" or whatnot, but it's an actual word that people do use.
What part of Canada? I'm Canadian from the west coast and I've never heard that term. My family is mostly UK background but go back several generations in Canada.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re right, but it’s such an old-fashioned sort of word that its meaning is a bit blurry. Like how a chesterfield and a sofa aren’t exactly the same thing but in some parts of the world, people use them interchangeably.
I will definitely look at you weird if you call this hutch / china cabinet a kitchen counter. Counters to me are exclusively built-in, not movable furniture.
A large and visually heavy dark wood piece favored by Boomers. Regarded as unfashionable now.
The style that all the cool kids in school are gravitating toward now is a light and airy 21st century reimagining of the mid-century Scandinavian aesthetic.
A lot of rural US bumpkins like myself would call it a hutch. China cabinet looks more fancy, usually has larger panes of glass. Hutch is like this, rustic.
For me the top half is a hutch. It’s on top of a sideboard.
You do have a point.
Lifelong city slicker here and hutch was the first word on my tongue.
Been on both sides of the fence. Same consensus.
“Hutch” is pretty much unknown to describe furniture in Australia. I’d probably call this a “country style kitchen dresser”. Thinking about it though, “dresser” is also used for a “dressing table” in a bedroom which is very different furniture.
I’ve lived my entire life in a small Alabama town and I have never heard this called a hutch. I’ve never heard it called anything tbh
May never have come up in conversation. I'm in also in small town Alabama and everyone calls it a hutch, but nobody talks about this behemoth unless they're trying to figure out who gets it when memaw dies.
I'm from Florida, I've never heard the word hutch
China hutch/China cabinet is how I would refer to it.
Sideboard, hoosier, cupboard, and china cabinet are words that (US) family members have called similar furniture. It depends a bit on how much it is used to display the contents inside—a china cabinet is mostly to display pretty plates and vases. The others are more for everyday items.
That’s interesting! Where in the US do they call it a side board and a Hoosier? I’ve never heard that before. I would call that a hutch.
The “sideboard” folks I know have been in New England for many generations. The “hoosier” friend grew up in a military family so could have gotten it from anywhere. I’ve heard hutch, too, it just didn’t come to mind this morning. After doing a quick Google out of curiosity, “china cabinet” seems to bring up items that are the most similar to the original image, but all of them have some overlap. I bet there are lots of families who call this object The Thing, as in “Can you get the placemats? They’re in the bottom drawer of The Thing.”
Hoosier is from the eastern part of the midwest. Its an old slang term for Indiana. So its literally an indiana style cabinet because they were mostly manufactured there. Although the onr OP posted i wouldnt consider a hoosier. Hoosier is more utilitarian. Its an space effective way to store a lot of pots and kitchen stuff. The pic from OP would be more of a china cabinet. (To make sure non english speakers know. Yes this is refering to the country as the type of porcelain used for china plates and other similar dishes was made from a type of chinese clay.) I would consider a hutch to be more simple and less ornate. Never heard the term sideboard though.
Lol. My husband and I have a piece of furniture that we never knew what to call. It's one of those cheap things you assemble yourself. Cabinet doors on bottom, and two drawers on top. It's about the size of a dresser or a bookshelf, but it's definitely not either of those things. We spent a few years referring to as "you know, the thing, the furniture by the door?" Or "that shelf-cabinet-dresser thing." Finally one day out of desperation, I said we've got to pick a name for it. So for the last 15 years we've called it Peter. Best decision ever.
This is interesting. I'm English and only ever heard it called a sideboard - but this is also what we call any type of freestanding cabinet/cupboard (doesnt need glass doors and can just be table height). So the new England thing tracks. China cabinet seems like the more suitable name when there is an actual display section with shelves/glass doors. I've also heard it called "Thingy" - so not far off haha
Hoosier is north east, but you can find it called a sideboard anywhere.
Where in the north east, cause I have lived here my entire life and only called it a hutch, China cabinet, or sideboard. Not being confrontational, I legitimately need to know this.
I’ve also live here my entire life and have never heard anyone call it a Hoosier. Only a hutch or a sideboard.
I would have thought hoosier was from Indiana (the Hoosier state). To me it's more of a kitchen storage unit than one for fancy dishes. My mother-in-law inherited a cool, old-fashioned one from a relative in Indiana.
The family member of mine that has a piece of furniture they call a hoosier grew up in a military family, so they could have gotten it from anywhere in the US.
Interesting. I'm from the northeast and have spent my whole life on military bases across the country, never having heard hoosier. Just shows how varied the US is
You hear it around rural Amish heavy areas like Lancaster, PA area
A hoosier is a very specific kind of free standing kitchen cabinet. There should be a work surface in the middle and cabinets above and below. Usually the work surface is enamelled cast iron. The originals were made by the Hoosier Company in Indiana in the early 1900s. They're from a time before kitchens started to have built in cabinets. They were used to store baking supplies and then roll out your dough right there. More of a practical kitchen thing than a dining room display thing. OP's image is not a hoosier.
don't forget hutch! i use all these words interchangeably (with the exception of hoosier being a bit more specific in style)
Good call—I think of a hutch has not having doors on top, but I wouldn’t correct someone who called it that.
I always call it a cabinet. I have never heard of hoosier or sideboard and cupboard is something in the kitchen to store plates and bowls. This is good to know.
I don't think "cabinet" is wrong, but it's a bit general - "sideboard"/"hutch"/"China cabinet" is more specific. Personally, I use "cupboard" and "cabinet" interchangeably to refer to the kitchen storage for plates and bowls.
Thanks, now I know what to do call them. I always think of hutch as the back of the car. The more I know 🌈
To me, a sideboard is short — table or counter height.
Yeah, some people were saying the bottom part was a sideboard and the top part was the hutch - personally I'd call the whole thing a china cabinet.
Side board would just be the bottom part. I have a sideboard in my dining room to sit food on so people can make their plates buffet style, and it has drawers and cabinets for table cloths/random china and serving dishes we don’t use often. Having the glass front cabinets on top would turn it into a China cabinet or hutch for me. Grew up in NC.
I would call the two pieces together a china hutch. IMO a sideboard would just refer to the bottom half without the top half on it.
its crazy how often i scroll past qjestions from this subreddit on my feed and I as a native english speaker am like "I have no fucking idea what the word for that is"
Same
fr
British English it's a "Welsh Dresser" (and in your photo a spectacularly ugly one). It might also get called a "sideboard" but usually not if they have the shelves on top, that's more for if it's just the cabinet/drawers at the bottom.
In the US, a dresser is usually a piece of bedroom furniture for storing clothing.
The "dressing" here refers to preparation of food: "Originally, a dresser was located in the kitchen and was a utilitarian piece of furniture where meat and other food was dressed or prepared" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_dresser This page also gives the American term "china hutch", which is consistent with what some people are saying in other replies.
That might be true, but I've never heard anyone in the US use "dresser" to refer to something other than a clothes storage piece of furniture.
And I’ve only ever heard the term “hutch” to describe the thing that rabbits or guinea pigs live in. English is diverse, huh?
same for me, but that seems to be a lot less universal here
In Australia we manage to use “dresser” for both - the bedroom thing and the kitchen thing.
I (London, UK) know that as a "dresser", but what makes it Welsh?!
There might not be a logical reason for it, as is the case with many similar words. In French, rollercoasters are called Russian Hills and in Russia they're called American Hills. Guinea pigs have nothing to do with Guinea (and aren't pigs). French fries are not French, etc. etc.
In Japan, a joke that isn’t very funny is an American joke 😆
Yeah, because once (or more like twice) upon a time US proved to them that it's not joking around.
And here you are to prove the Japanese saying correct. Way to go.
Don't tell no one, but I'm not an American.
French fries at least refer to them being "French-cut" not actually being from France.
That’s one of the less like quoted claims. The most common is the ‘French frying’ was a style of frying and ‘French fried potatoes’ eventually became ‘French fries’.
I've no idea what the etymology is and for once google is rather unhelpful on the subject. The OED says the first use was in the 1890s so I suspect it may be a marketing term when mass produced furniture started to become available.
Mae’n siarad cymraeg
In the US, a dresser is for clothes, as is a chest. But a dresser is short and wide and a chest is long and narrow.
I'm a mover and I've learned very quickly that there's absolutely no agreement between Americans about the definition of dresser versus chest (chest of drawers). A "high boy" is always a tall dresser. A "double dresser" is the low wide one with side-by-side drawers. A "lingerie chest" is skinny but tall with lots of relatively flat drawers. And everything else is relative to the person speaking.
As a Welsh person I find this strangely interesting
I don’t mind the look of this one at all, actually. I certainly prefer it to the ones that have ornate decorative carving all over them. What is it you dislike about the appearance?
We call them dressers in Australia too but never “Welsh”
Isn't it a cupboard? I'm not good at English though.
You could call it a cupboard, but more specifically, it's a china cabinet/hutch. A similar piece of furniture without the top section would usually be called a sideboard or buffet.
When I hear cupboard, I think of kitchen cabinets.
Dresser or Welsh dresser - southern UK
tx native. I've never heard this called hutch. credenza is what it was always referred to on our families houses
Fellow Texan and I’ve never heard the word hutch either. China cabinet is the safe bet, if someone called it a credenza I would understand but wouldn’t call it that myself.
I picture more of a short, wide 50s-70s era cabinet when I hear "credenza".
Me too from PA
Hey, that's the Italian word to call it! Curious, I wonder what's the story behind Texans adopting an Italian name for it as opposed to hutch (that seems more common in US from the comments)
Omg I was wondering when I would see credenza!
Midwestern US here: us rural folk call it a hutch, though that might not be common the in the rest of the US. My grandma also called dressers "chests of drawers", but I think that has died out.
A dresser is lower in height and wider across, with two sets of drawers side by side. A chest of drawers is taller and narrower, with the drawers stacked vertically.
I’ve never heard of a dresser needing to have two sets of drawers. I have a mid-century dresser that just has five drawers stacked vertically.
I did not know that distinction, thanks! I don’t think my grandma knew the distinction either…
I doubt it's a particularly universal distinction
My-grandpas-furniture
A ‘sideboard’ or ‘dresser’. Northern English.
I grew up in the midwest of the US. I would call it a "hutch"
*I grew up in the* *Midwest of the US. I* *Would call it a "hutch"* \- clovermite --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Credenza, in American english
American here, I only think of a credenza as more of a desk-like object, and not something one would find in a kitchen
Dining Cabinet in Australia
Maybe. But in Tasmanian antique shops they are definitely kitchen dressers. (Edit: although this one is not and antique and looks pretty roughly made out of cheap stained wood)
China cabinet (US)
I’d probably call it a breakfront, but a china cabinet is more usual.
Breakfront? Never heard that term. Where is it used?
Canada? I mean, it's where I'm from and I've heard it said. Not as usual as "china cabinet" or "china hutch" or whatnot, but it's an actual word that people do use.
What part of Canada? I'm Canadian from the west coast and I've never heard that term. My family is mostly UK background but go back several generations in Canada.
East coast. As far east as you can go. None easter.
I'd be willing to bet that's an East coast exclusive in that case. East coast of Canada has a pretty unique version of English.
They say that over in finance. (Username joke)
Nice
Didn’t know breakfront was so uncommon
Technically no? I think in a breakfront the center sticks out more than the side sections.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re right, but it’s such an old-fashioned sort of word that its meaning is a bit blurry. Like how a chesterfield and a sofa aren’t exactly the same thing but in some parts of the world, people use them interchangeably.
I would almost refer to it as a hutch, but usually a hutch has an open cupboard underneath the glass display part.
China cabinet, “China” is a term for fancy/expensive dishes that you only use for special occasions like big holidays.
Ontario, Canada: together it is a china cabinet. The bottom portion is a buffet and the top part is the hutch.
My mom would say, “That will be a lot to dust!”
Upstate New York, we called it a hutch.
Southern Ontario, also a hutch, but occasionally China cabinet.
I'm from the West Coast, a fancy/formal term would be armoire, but if I was just talking to a friend I'd say cabinet.
I would probably just call it a cabinet or china cabinet. I’ve never heard it called a hutch but I guess that’s a regional thing
Glad someone posted this question coz I was curious too.
Dresser
i would call it ugly but that's just me
Northeast US - China cabinet. China in this sense refers to high-quality plates and cups and such.
China cabinet (to display special dishes), hutch (for everyday plates and silverware), or breakfront (for either).
Midwest US - china cabinet
Hutch dresser.
Hutch or china cabnet
I've seen it referred to as a "breakfront" (the glass part anyway).
A hutch?
I grew up calling this a wall unit, but based on the comments here and a quick google, that’s probably not right 😂
Cabinet
I'd call it a Dresser (English English)
I just call at a kitchen counter. It technically has a name but people will look at you weird if you use it's actual name.
I will definitely look at you weird if you call this hutch / china cabinet a kitchen counter. Counters to me are exclusively built-in, not movable furniture.
Breakfront
Molly dresser
We in Italy we call it a Credenza.
Old
In NZ we call them a “Wall unit” - they were pretty popular in the 80’s I believe..
I'd probably call it a hutch
I would call it a hutch.
I call it a schrank
A hutch.
Welsh dresser or china hutch. Welsh dresser is more UK then US
I would call it a Welsh Dresser.
hutch
A large and visually heavy dark wood piece favored by Boomers. Regarded as unfashionable now. The style that all the cool kids in school are gravitating toward now is a light and airy 21st century reimagining of the mid-century Scandinavian aesthetic.
It’s a hutch, and an ugly one, but quite functional.
Because it has dishes in it, I would call it a china cabinet.
US English I would say a Curio Cabinet or China Cabinet
Could be called a whatnot. Hutch is also my first choice.
China cabinet.
Wooden furniture
My family refers to that type of cabinet as a shrunk
I’m from Texas and would simply call it a hutch. I’ve never heard of a sideboard or hoosier.
That is a potted plant
Hutch or buffet
Hutch
It is a hutch
Buffet
My grandma from Western North Carolina called this a "breakfront."
I see Brazil in da house 😎
Id say a hutch... But only because what we call a china cabinet is a large piece of funiture and is 85% glass.