A cabinet (literally “closet”) was a French Louisiana characteristic that would not normally be found in a Federal-style house.  These rooms could serve many purposes. 

Ladies often used cabinets as dressing rooms and as places to rest and nap in the heat of the afternoon. The day bed was used in lieu of the larger bed to avoid disturbing the larger bed's mattress, which would have to be fluffed daily.                   Other uses of cabinets include sick rooms, where patients could be isolated from the rest of the household, and slave/servant rooms, where a slave could sleep so that he or she could attend to the occupants of the surrounding bedrooms.