Photo: Ikea
I remember when my youngest son learned that he could climb. I was thrilled to watch him unfurl a new skill before my eyes but then he tried to climb up on a bookcase in our living room and it tipped over. Thankfully, our coffee table broke the fall of the bookcase as the top shelf of the case slammed down on the table. My son was trapped in the small cubby space created by the fallen-over bookcase that was resting awkwardly on the coffee table, several books and picture frames scattered on the floor.
It happened while I was standing next to him and it scared the daylights out of both of us. Thankfully, my son wasn’t hurt and the worst damage was a scratch across the coffee table. That weekend, my husband and I secured all of our furniture to the walls and pieces of furniture that couldn’t be secured were put in storage.
It was with that terrifying incident still fresh in my mind when I heard the amazing news that IKEA just unveiled a new furniture collection in Sweden called The Glesvär collection and it is specifically designed to prevent the kind of tip-over scenario that occurred in my own home.
Vladimir Brajkovic who heads the Ikea product engineering team told the Washington Post, “Tip-over risk has been an industry problem for a long time, and we believe the safest thing to do is to attach furniture to the wall.” He went on to say that the design of this new collection takes tip-over safety issues extremely seriously, noting that “It is practically impossible to use these products unless they are installed correctly.”
The genius product engineering team created unique features that require customers to properly secure their furniture before it can even be used. For example, some drawers won’t open unless they are correctly anchored, and some pieces have only two front legs, which requires the customer to anchor the furniture to the wall in order for it to stand up.
The Ikea company takes tip-over safety concerns so seriously that they have begun playing ads on PBS Kids during the day to help warn parents of the dangers of furniture tip-over and to give helpful tips on how to avoid tip-over entirely.
The Ikea website has an incredibly informative blog post on exactly how to use wall anchors, how to install them, what they look like, and where to go if you need help.
When you consider that every 17 minutes a child under the age of six in the US suffers an injury from tip-over accidents, and with 195 deaths between 2000 and 2016, it makes this issue feel especially urgent.
My house is now secure, no furniture is going to be tipping over anytime soon, but I still worry about accidents as any parent would. Check out that Ikea Secure It! Blog post and learn how to prevent tip-over incidents from happening your home.
