Fatima Moflehi
2/20/2024
Professor Rodwell
ENG 21007
Product Review
IKEA is a very well known Swedish brand that sells a variety of home products that include furniture. When you purchase furniture from them they include a manual for the customer to assemble it themselves. I purchased the Songesand 6-drawer dresser and I reviewed it based on three criterias: durability, capacity, and assembly/installation.
Invented in the 17th century dressers were originally built of solid wood with beautiful carvings and embellishments and used for keeping garments and other personal items. As time went on, other styles developed, each with its own traits and features. (paolomoschino, n.d)
The Songesand 6-drawer dresser has the classic design of a rectangular shaped dresser that is colored dark brown. The dresser overall has a height of 32 ¼ inches, a width of 63 ⅜ inches, and a depth of 19 ⅝ inches. The six drawers each have a depth of 15 ¾ inches and width of 28 ⅜ inches.(IKEA, n.d) The dresser stands flat on the ground with no wheels or legs and has a flat long surface on top.
The first criteria reviewed is the dresser’s durability or the strength and material of the dresser and how it can withstand pressure (i.e. weight). The dresser is mostly made up of Particleboard and Fiberboard so it is mostly made of thin boards compressed of wood and other material such as plant fiber and resin. These boards are less strong compared to actual wood so the dresser can easily be broken if it was put to the test with smashing, throwing, etc. Although it isn’t the strongest material the dresser can still withstand the weight of the objects it was made to hold (i.e clothes) and perform properly. Overall its durability based on its intended purpose gets a good rating.
The second criteria is based on the dresser’s capacity or the amount of space available in the drawers and how much the drawers can fill. The space in each of the six drawers is enough to fit many clothes as long as it is folded and flat. If not, the drawer’s capacity becomes less and it starts getting stuck against the other drawers above and below it causing issues with the drawers’ wheel’s and its accessibility of opening the drawers and closing them. Also with the large depth and width of each of the six drawers the overall capacity of the dresser is well rated as long as the owner uses it properly.
The last criteria is based on the dresser’s assembly and installation. As an IKEA product the customer receives the dresser unassembled and is given instructions and materials to help assemble it. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow but the design of the dresser plays a big role in its assembly as well as the way the material fits together. The wheels connected to each drawer were made to slide into a rectangular hole and had to align with a piece of metal drilled at the sides of the hole, but the metal piece was very small and the wheels easily slipped off causing the drawer to become tilted and affect its accessibility when trying to slide open the drawer. Also when installing the top flat board above the dresser it required a lot of strength for the wooden pieces to fit into the side holes so the dresser can have a tight secure fit, but because of the weak material of the board it was very obvious that it could break if too much sudden pressure was applied so we had to be very careful and took a long time to push the board into its holes. Overall The rating outfits assembly and installation is very low due to its design where there was lots of struggle.
In Conclusion, the IKEA Songesand Six-Drawer Dresser meets a decent score for durability, a high score for capacity, and a low score in assembly/installation. Based on my personal experience I would definitely recommend the product to people who want a large simple looking dresser that can hold their clothing items but I would recommend contacting a professional assembly person from IKEA to help install it and put it together.
Sources Used:
- Paolomoschino (n.d.) “Antique Chest of Drawers: History, Styles, and Value”
- IKEA (n.d) “ Measurements”
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/songesand-6-drawer-dresser-00575804
