IKEA’s modern BRIMNES series brings to your home smart bedroom ideas with its beds, dressers, wardrobes, bedside tables, and much more.
The series is popular for its ample storage space, in wardrobes, in the form of drawers in the dressers, bed frames, and bed headboards.
The BRIMNES dresser comes in various sizes with a different number of drawers, so you can choose one depending on the space you have and the storage you require.
The series is made of 100% recycled wood and is generally strong and sturdy.
Nevertheless, the wall needs to attach or support furniture like dressers and wardrobes to supplement its added height.
However, if you have an IKEA BRIMNES dresser or a wardrobe in your room and it’s not secured to the wall, you may get into a big problem.
This popular series of wardrobes and dressers, most commonly, are known for tipping over easily and can cause serious damage if it falls on someone.
In this article, we will identify possible causes of the dresser tipping over and how to fix the IKEA BRIMNES dresser not being secured to the wall issue.
Further, we talk about preventative measures that you can take to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and enjoy your BRIMNES series without any setbacks.
IKEA Brimnes Not Secured to Wall
It’s a general rule of thumb that taller things are proportionally less stable than those closer to the ground surface.
The IKEA BRIMNES tallest dresser is around 4 feet tall and has 4 large storage drawers. Similarly, the wardrobes these IKEA series offer are around 5 feet, taller than the chest of drawers.
If you choose not to secure both of them with the wall because you are lazy or avoiding drilling holes in the wall on the rented property, you can try several other methods to make them more steady, safe, and stable. In a nutshell, this includes:
- Not opening all the dresser’s drawers together.
- Not overloading the drawers on one side.
- Keeping children away from climbing up or sitting in the dresser.
- Standing in the wardrobes.
- Hanging with the hanging rod of wardrobe.
Also, avoid placing the furniture over a slippery surface, like an edge of a rug or a mat that doesn’t have enough friction with the floor, as they can also decrease the stability of the furniture and cause tipping accidents.
The best way to avoid any setbacks and accidents is to secure the dresser and the wardrobe with the attachment hardware that comes with the two products.
Following are the details of each of the above methods to make your BRIMNES series firm and anchored without securing them to the wall.
If you are not planning to fix your IKEA dresser with the wall, read below to learn other solutions to keep it more steady and safe.
- Don’t Open Several Drawers At The Same Time
Accidents usually occur when the laws of physics are disturbed.
Hence, one of the main reasons the IKEA BRIMNES dresser is tipping over so easily is that people tend to open several drawers simultaneously.
When you open the drawers simultaneously, you shift the center of gravity of the chest outside its main frame.
The center of gravity shifts because of the relocation of all the weight outwards.
This disrupts the stable/equilibrium state of the frame, and imbalance eventually leads to the drawer toppling over.
The problem begins with a lot of strain affecting the dresser and can cause it to overturn.
If you need multiple items from the dresser, try opening one drawer at a time. Opening drawers one at a time help distribute the weight evenly and prevent the dresser from tipping over.
We recommend you take some time and carefully open one drawer at a time, pull your required item out and push the drawer back in before opening the other drawer for another item.
This way, you’ll have all your things together and successfully avoid any accidents.
- Don’t Let Children Climb Drawers
Having children at home is sometimes exhausting and tiresome. It gets difficult to manage both kids and house chores.
But everyone who has kids agrees that there is nothing above their safety.
Furniture toppling over them can cause serious injuries, so one should ensure that whatever furniture is at home is adequately secured and supported to prevent accidents.
If you have children, you must teach them not to climb on the dresser drawers to avoid injuries.
One of the most frequent ways that the IKEA BRIMNES dresser tips over and can cause serious injury to your child is when they use a ladder to reach up to the object on the top of the dresser.
If you catch your child climbing on the dresser, scold them and explain the dangers of doing so.
You can also avoid putting the kid’s toys and other attractions on the dresser in response to which children usually try climbing up.
However, kids may try climbing up if they have already done it and enjoys doing it.
In these situations, having heavy objects or perfume bottles on the dresser may be even more risky and dangerous.
Similarly, pulling, hanging, or leaning on the drawers for fun or to get support should also be avoided if the furniture is not secured to the wall.
Hanging on the hanging rods in the wardrobes and sitting or standing in the drawers also cause the center of support of the furniture to move outwards, causing instability and tipping accidents.
With a little bit of effort, you can easily prevent all this from happening and still use your BRIMNES furniture without securing them to the walls.
- Don’t Overload The Drawers
Another common mistake people make is overloading the dresser drawers.
This puts a lot of strain on the dresser and can cause it to tip over, especially if the higher drawers occupy more things than the bottom ones.
Ensure you’re not adding too much weight to each drawer, and distribute the items throughout the dresser evenly.
This will help prevent tipping, keep the dresser steady in its place, and prevent it from falling over.
- Don’t Place a Drawer Over a Rug that Can Slip.
When you place a drawer on top of a rug, there is always the potential for the carpet to slip.
A carpet or rug under the dresser is not advisable as it can cause the drawer to tip over and damage both the dresser and the items inside.
People also sometimes slide half the rug or the carpet underneath the dresser or the wardrobe to add beauty to the space.
Although this may look pleasurable to the eye, it really is not safe.
The uneven surface may cause the anterior section of the drawer to be comparatively higher than its posterior section, and the dresser would wobble even with little weight on it.
This is not a safe method to put your dresser, especially if it is not secured with the wall by the screws.
The wobbling will cause instability, and the dresser can topple anytime.
To prevent this from happening, make sure that you’re placing the drawer on a flat surface and avoid any uneven or leaning surfaces.
If you must put it on a rug, make sure that the rug is secured to the floor so that it can’t slip.
You can also use stick-on or rubber lining under the carpets and rugs you are placing below the BRIMNES dresser or wardrobe to provide additional friction between the floor and the rug to circumvent any slipping of carpet and tipping accidents.
- Use The Wall Attachment Hardware
Another reason that the IKEA BRIMNES dresser tips over is that people don’t use the wall attachment hardware that comes with it.
This hardware is designed to keep the dresser secured to the wall and will help to prevent it from tipping over under any conditions.
The safest solution among all is to secure the dresser or the wardrobe with the hardware attachment that comes along with the furniture.
If you’re not using the wall attachment hardware, we recommend you start doing so as soon as possible.
It’s easy to install, and you can find several videos and blog posts over it that can help you through the process.
This could eventually save you from a lot of damage and hustle in the future.
The Bottom Line
The article mentions some of the basic solutions to prevent your BRIMNES series from tipping over if it is not secured to the wall with its hardware and attachment.
Although this may help you make your furniture steady and stable but is not very safe anyway. It is recommended to secure the furniture where it is due to prevent any troubles and injuries.
Since you cannot turn away from the general rules of physics when dealing with material things, you should abide by them for yourself and your kids’ safety.
