Ikea will soon sell dressers designed for stability

Three years ago, Ikea recalled millions of its dressers after a spate of accidents killed and injured toddlers. A report found that the dressers were prone to toppling over when young children grabbed onto the top drawer of dressers not anchored to the wall.

Following the recall, Ikea reached a settlement with some of the families whose children were killed and gave store credit to those who had to return their faulty furniture. Now the company is making its most impactful change yet, in the form of a safer, more secure dresser design.

At its annual Democratic Design Days event this week, Ikea just introduced a new line called Glesvär that includes three new dresser designs with improved safety features. Working with customer focus groups, Ikea’s designers came up with dressers that avoid tip-overs by prompting customers to attach the furniture to a wall.

One of the dressers comes with an interlocking feature that prevents multiple drawers from being opened at the same time. When one drawer is open, the others remain locked to prevent a shift in the center of gravity. Once the dresser is anchored to a wall, multiple drawers can open simultaneously.

Ikea went further with its second design, which locks all of the drawers until the furniture has been properly anchored. The last design has only two legs, which requires it to be attached to the wall in order to function.

Ikea says it will release the dressers on a limited basis while it assesses how customers interact with the new designs. The Glesvär line will hit U.S. stores this December.