How to anchor a dresser to the wall: ten minutes, one stud, and the two mistakes that undo it

Before you start

This is the babyproofing job with the injury data behind it: the CPSC estimates 1,800 children a year in emergency rooms from dressers and chests alone, and 55 percent of tip-over deaths involve children between one and three. Do it before the baby moves, which is earlier than most people think. Every dresser gets anchored, including a new one that meets the 2023 STURDY rule, because the CPSC recommends it in the same release that announced the rule. Which anchor to buy is settled in best furniture anchors; the case for doing it at all is do you really need to anchor furniture.

Finding the stud, and what to do without one

Studs run vertically every 16 inches in most US homes (24 in some). A stud finder swept horizontally at the height of the dresser's top will beep at each edge; mark the center. Confirm with a small nail: solid resistance is wood, no resistance is a miss. If the stud is off to one side, anchor there; the strap does not need to be square to the dresser. If no stud falls anywhere behind the dresser, screw a 1x4 cleat horizontally across two studs at the right height and anchor to the cleat. Plaster and brick change the hardware, not the rule: see furniture anchors for drywall, plaster and brick. Never a plastic drywall plug: it pulls out with the dresser attached.

The dresser end

The back panel of most dressers is a thin sheet, and a screw into it holds nothing. Go for the top rail (the solid piece under the top surface) or the rear stile of the carcass. On an IKEA-style dresser, use the anchoring points the instructions show. On an antique you do not want to drill, QuakeHOLD!'s hybrid strap puts adhesive on the furniture and a screw in the wall, which is the acceptable version of no-drill; the version that is not acceptable is explained in no-drill vs screw-in furniture anchors.

Tension and the test

A slack strap lets the dresser lean forward before the strap catches, and by then the drawers are open and the center of gravity has moved. Pull the strap taut through its adjuster with the dresser pushed against the wall; a cable kit is meant to have a little slack, so clamp it close. Then test: grab the top of the dresser and pull it toward you as hard as a climbing two-year-old would. It should not tip at all. Re-check the tension every few months, after moving the dresser to clean, and after any move.

Tall dressers, changing tables and dressers off the wall

A tall dresser or wardrobe gets two anchors near the top and, if it is over about 60 inches, a bracket kit rather than a strap for the stated rating. A changing table with drawers is a dresser with a baby on top; anchor it the same way. A dresser that sits away from the wall (angled in a corner, or with a baseboard heater behind it) needs a longer strap; Safety 1st's adjust to 16 inches and its TV strap runs 53 inches. A bookcase looks like the same job and is not: the back panel will not hold a screw and the shelves are a permanent ladder, which is why it has its own walkthrough in how to anchor a bookshelf. The stud finder you just used is the same one for a gate: see how to install a baby gate.

The picks

If the dresser is new, it had to pass a federal stability test before it could be sold - and it still ships with a restraint for a reason. The STURDY Act explained covers what that rule does and does not do.