How do I anchor furniture to the wall so it cannot tip?

Anchoring furniture is straightforward, and the two things that decide whether it works are fixing into something structural and keeping the strap tight.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 30 min
Read: 3 min
Safety: warning

Short answer

Fix the wall end into a stud or into masonry with an appropriate fixing — never into plasterboard alone. Fix the furniture end into a solid part of the carcass, not the thin back panel. Keep the restraint short and taut so the furniture cannot gain momentum, and check it after any move.

Most tall furniture is far more likely to tip than it looks, because opening a drawer moves a lot of weight outside its footprint and a child climbing on that drawer adds more. Carpet makes it worse by letting the front feet sink. Anchoring is a ten-minute job that removes the whole problem, and it is worth doing on anything tall enough to fall on someone.

Safety

Tall furniture tipping onto a child is a known cause of serious and fatal injury, and chests of drawers and bookcases are the usual items. Anchor before the room is used, not when you get round to it. Use the restraint supplied with the furniture where there is one, and follow its instructions — it has been tested with that product.

Step by step

Use the restraint that came with the furniture if there is one.Flat-pack furniture increasingly ships with a strap or bracket. It has been designed for that item, and its instructions specify where on the carcass to fix it.
Find a stud or use a masonry fixing.This is the part that decides everything. A restraint fixed only into plasterboard can pull out under exactly the load it exists to resist. Find the stud, or fix into masonry with a proper plug and screw.
Fix the furniture end into structure, not the back panel.The thin hardboard back of a chest of drawers will tear straight through. Fix into the top, a side panel or a solid rail — somewhere the screw is going into real material.
Keep the restraint short and tight.Slack lets the furniture start moving before the strap takes any load, and a moving mass is far harder to stop than a stationary one. Take up all the slack.
Anchor at both sides on wide furniture.A single central fixing lets a wide item pivot around it. Two, spread apart, hold it square.
Deal with carpet and uneven floors.Furniture that leans forward because the front feet have sunk into a carpet is already part of the way to tipping. Pack the front feet level, then anchor.
Re-check after moving anything.Restraints get disconnected for cleaning or decorating and not reconnected. Add it to the list of things checked after a room is rearranged.

Tips

Televisions on stands are worth anchoring too — a TV pulled off a unit is a common injury and the straps are inexpensive.
Heavy items belong in the bottom drawers. Loading the top drawers raises the centre of gravity and makes tipping easier.

Common mistakes

Fixing the wall end into plasterboard with a small plug. — The load in a tipping event is high and applied suddenly. That is precisely the case where a light board fixing pulls through.
Screwing into the thin back panel. — Hardboard backs are for keeping dust out, not for carrying load. The screw tears through the panel and the furniture falls anyway.
Leaving the strap loose so the furniture can be pulled out for cleaning. — Slack defeats the restraint. Use a design intended to be disconnected if you need that, rather than leaving it slack.

Questions people ask

Does everything need anchoring?

Anything tall relative to its depth, anything with drawers that pull out a long way, and anything a child might climb. Chests of drawers, bookcases, wardrobes and tall shelving are the usual list.

What if I cannot find a stud where the furniture stands?

Fix a timber batten across two studs first and anchor to that, or use a masonry fixing if the wall is solid. Do not settle for a board-only fixing on a restraint.