Furniture construction techniques that developed partly to accommodate the narrower boards from the frequently harvested European forests gave way to what were essentially American styles. The six-board chest was one product of the ample lumber supply. As simple as it sounds, the six-board chest is constructed of five wide planks held together with a vertical row of dovetails at each corner and lidded with a sixth plank. The straightforward design allows for variation. Some chests sit on the ground, some on bun feet, and some on fashionable bracketed Chippendale feet.
Many chests have a pair or trio of drawers across the bottom.
The broad, flat panels of the six-board blanket chest provided an almost irresistible canvas for ornamental painters. One of the most popular styles of painted chests comes from the Amish, Mennonite, and Moravian communities of Pennsylvania. These religious people satisfied their need for pretty things by decorating their household goods with colorful designs. Many of those chests were designed as dowry chests and were built for young girls when they were about 10 years old. Each chest was inscribe with the girl's name and date of presentation.