How and why to anchor your furniture (and TVs!)

According to the CPSC's 2024 annual Tip-Over Report, someone is rushed to the ER about every 45 minutes because of a tip-over. About every 2 weeks, a child dies as a result of injuries from a tip-over. The good news is, tip-overs are easy to prevent! All you need to do is anchor your furniture with drawers, doors, and/or shelves (and your TVs) to the wall! To learn more visit www.anchorit.gov!

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Resources for how to properly anchor your furniture to the wall

Consumer Reports How to Anchor Furniture to the Wall Video

This is a great video that shows how easy it is to secure your furniture to the wall properly!

CPSC How to Anchor It Video

Another video that shows how to properly anchor furniture to the wall

IKEA's Creating Safer Homes Together how to anchor video

This is a longer but detailed (and entertaining) video about how to properly anchor furniture into various types of walls. Definitely worth your time to watch it.

Consumer Reports Article on the best and worst furniture anchors

Consumer Reports article on the best and worst anchor kits based on their testing in October of 2024. A must read!

What needs to be anchored and why?

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about what kind of furniture needs to be anchored and why.

The short answer is that any furniture that is not properly anchored to the wall has the potential to tip-over and cause serious injuries or death.

We recommend anchoring all furniture with drawers, doors, and/or shelves to the wall, regardless of it's size, weight, intended use, location, or manufacturer.

Use our Home Inventory Form to make it easier to make an anchoring plan!

Still not sure what to use or how to anchor your furniture? Perhaps you don't have the tools needed? Ask a friend, family member, or neighbor if you can borrow the tools from them or better yet, ask them to help! Offer some snacks and then help them anchor the furniture and TVs in their home, too!

Myth Busters

Here are some myth busters about furniture safety

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You can be in the same room and not be able to stop a tip-over from happening!

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Storing items that are heavier and that kids use/want the most in the bottom drawers/shelves helps, but alone won't prevent a tip-over

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Be sure to remove anything that might entice a child to reach or climb on furniture.

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ALL furniture has the potential to tip-over, including both heavy and light furniture, tall and short furniture, and old and new furniture.