Unpacking and Assembling your Dresser

The dresser will be unloaded at the curb by your house. You'll need to uncrate and unwrap it to get it inside. Here's how:

1. If possible, have the truck driver unload the crate standing up; the shipping labels are on the top side and top front.

2. You'll need a cordless power driver with a #2 Phillips head screwdriver bit to disassemble the crate. Remove all the screws in the each of the side and front panels and discard the crate.

3. Carefully remove the foam sheets; they're held only by 2" tape, which can be pulled off. Do not use a knife. If you try to cut the tape you might jab the dresser.

4. Remove the plastic wrap by carefully cutting it at the back of the dresser with scissors.

5. The drawer pulls and screws are packed in the upper left drawer; remove them and install them in each of the drawers using a #2 Phillips head handheld screwdriver. Do not use a cordless power driver, because it's too easy to strip the threads in the pulls or damage the drawers.

6. To lighten the dresser, remove the drawers. Pull a drawer all the way out. Find the two black levers in the slide members mounted on the drawer sides and push them up/down at the same time to release the drawer, which will slide straight out easily. One lever will push down and the other will push up. Push the traveling members of the slides back into the case. The drawers are numbered underneath at their fronts. The openings are also numbered near the front by the right-hand slide. Be sure to match drawers with openings when you reinstall the drawers.

7. Two people can move the case by holding it by the back and under one of the cross rails. Do not lift the case by its top.

8. Installing the drawers is tricky. Make sure the slides are pushed all the way in. Hold the drawer by the lower side edges and insert the drawer portion of the slides into the channels in the black portion of the case member of the slides. Be careful: the drawer members stick out a little in the back and it's easy to hit the front and sides of the case with them and thus ding the woodwork. Slowly but firmly push the drawer all the way in to engage the slides; it will stick as you push it in, so be firm but don't force it. Once engaged, the drawer will open/close with only a light touch, except for the last 1/4", which requires a noticeable push/pull to seat/unseat the drawer slide members in the rubber bumpers at the back of the slides. These bumpers keep the drawer closed.

Dresser Care

If you want, you can put a light coat of paste wax on the top and on the drawer fronts, but don't use Pledge or other waxes that contain solvents. Clean the dresser with a clean cotton cloth dampened with soapy water.

October 2003.