The Target Chest of Drawers

About three weeks ago (it could have been four, but I can’t find the receipt) I bought a chest of drawers from Target. Technically, it's called a "4 drawer chest" from their Room Essentials brand.

Yes, that meant that I would have to put it together. Yes, it meant that I would have to take everything out of the package myself and later dispose of/or recycle all of the packaging contents. Yes, it meant a lot of things; including having a place to put clothes that were currently stacked on shelves.

So, impulsively, I bought the chest. I should have known it was going to be trouble…it weighed 72 pounds and I had to have a Target team member put it in my tiny car. Once home, I unpacked it in the garage and carefully carried the pieces inside. I stacked them in my den, looked over the instructions and knew…knew that this was going to be problematic.

I let the pieces of the chest rest in the room for two weeks, while my mind wrestled with putting it together and when I couldn’t stand it any longer I got down to business. It took me a total of four days to physically put the chest together. Why did it take so long? Well, out of the hundred pieces (okay...approximately 35-not counting the hardware) of this project only four were labeled. Four! The others were supposed to be labeled; according to the 31 page booklet of instructions. And they were labeled. With totally different numbers from what was listed in the instruction booklet.

Maybe I should have taken it back to Target then, but all I could think about was lugging 72 pounds of particle board back to the garage, somehow packing it all in the same box and driving that back to Target.

And that is the reason I will never get furniture that I have to put together again. It’s a headache; a pain and a reason to go to garage sales or any place else first.

I was stuck…so for those two weeks I had to tell myself that I could in fact put this chest together. Oh, by the way, I checked the furniture website for the chest (they don’t want you to take it back to Target either) and the pieces were numbered the same as the instruction booklet. No Help.

Four Days and 35 Plus Pieces

The first day I concentrated on putting together the four drawers. That went well enough that I believed I could go on.

The second day I concentrated on the frame and then the temperature rose to over 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It was hot, even though I had the fan on. So, I stopped.

The third day the frame was stable and I corrected some mistakes…it was not clear where I was to attach the panel clips. Do not take the picture literally!! Oops. They need to go in the edge of the panel and drawer front and back.

The fourth day the drawers were inserted and the dresser was moved into place.

Done and done.

Finally a place to put my clothes.

On a scary note: The wall mount attachment strips are absolutely necessary! If I had kids or pets, I wouldn’t buy this thing at all. It is not very stable.