When looking to invest in storage solutions for your home, free-standing wardrobes can present themselves as an appealing option at first glance. It is important that you look at some of the potential dangers and perhaps look at built in cupboards as a safer alternative.
The Problem with Free-Standing Wardrobes
In the last few years, there have been several young children who have been killed by having free-standing wardrobes and chests of drawers fall over onto them.
In addition to the loss of these toddler’s lives, many older children, adults, and pets have been injured from falling furniture. Free-standing furniture poses a major problem in that it can topple over, especially in the case of a toddler trying to climb up drawers.
Why Do Free-Standing Wardrobes Topple?
One of the main reasons as to why there are more incidents with free-standing wardrobes than there used to be, is many furniture manufacturers are using more lightweight wood to make for cheaper and more ‘convenient solutions’.
However, this often makes it more unstable. There are also many companies that offer ‘flat-pack’ furniture, where the homeowner or renter puts the furniture together themselves. Many people do slapdash jobs and this can result in the furniture being flimsy and prone to falling over, even with the slightest pressure.
What is the Solution?
If you want to minimise the risks involved with free-standing wardrobes, you should buy furniture from experienced and professional suppliers, known for their high-quality pieces. You should also always anchor furniture to the wall, especially if you have young children.
Your other option is to rather spend your money on built in wardrobes instead. Built in wardrobes are much safer as they cannot topple or fall down like free-standing wardrobes can. Built-in wardrobes also allow you to make better use of the space that you have available to you and provide a custom storage solution for your home.
Are you interested in purchasing high-quality built in wardrobes in South Africa?
Cupboard Value is your go-to cupboard expert, and we have branches in Pretoria and KZN.
We invite you to get in touch with our team so that we can begin discussing your storage needs further.
