IKEA MALM chest of 3 drawers, white, 80×78 cm: interactive 3D assembly guide

All 36 steps

1. 1Screw the cam bolts into the sides

   Lay both sides flat, runners up. With a cross-head screwdriver, screw 10 cam bolts (118331) into them: 5 into each side, by the front edge and at the two holes nearer the bottom.

2. 2Press the glides into the sides

   Press 2 glides (153548) into the bottom edge of each side, pegs first, so the chest slides without scratching the floor.

3. 3Screw the corner brackets to the plinth

   Lay the plinth on its face. Hold a corner bracket (10038685) at each end and screw it on with 2 screws (155669).

4. 4Press the glides into the plinth

   Press a glide (153548) into each of the two holes in the plinth’s bottom edge.

5. 5Fix the plinth to the side

   Stand the plinth on its end at the front bottom corner of the right side, its bracket flat on the side, and fix it with a screw (155669) through the bracket. Its foot is level with the foot of the side.

6. 6Stand the front rails on the side

   Push a dowel (101345) by hand into each end of the three front rails. Stand them on the side along its front edge, each over its cam bolt and dowel hole, their round holes towards you.

7. 7Lock the front rails

   Put a cam lock (117434) into the round hole near the foot of each rail, its arrow towards the cam bolt, and turn it clockwise with a flat screwdriver until the joint is tight.

8. 8Stand the support rail on the side common mistake

   Push 4 dowels into the ends of the support rail, the bare board. Stand it on the side behind the lowest front rail, its round holes facing the bottom of the chest, as the manual’s box shows. Common mistake: The support rail has its round holes on one face only, near the back, and the cam bolt in the side is at the back too. Turned round, the rail’s end has no hole where the bolt is: it rests on the bolt’s head, the frame is never square and the cam lock has nothing to grip. Stand it with its round holes towards the bottom of the chest and near the back, as the box in the manual shows.

9. 9Lock the support rail

   Put a cam lock into the round hole near the right side, arrow to the bolt, and turn it clockwise until it is tight.

10. 10Stand the bottom on the side

    Push 4 dowels into the ends of the bottom. Stand it on the side next to the plinth, its round holes facing the foot of the chest.

11. 11Lock the bottom

    Put a cam lock into the round hole near the right side, arrow to the bolt, and turn it clockwise until it is tight.

12. 12Lay the left side on top

    Turn the left side over and lay it on top, runners down, so its cam bolts go into the ends of the rails and the boards and its holes onto the dowels. Press it down evenly.

13. 13Screw the plinth to the left side

    Fix the plinth’s other bracket to the left side with a screw (155669), driven up into the side from inside.

14. 14Lock the boards to the left side

    Put a cam lock into each of the 5 round holes by the left side, arrow to the bolt, and turn each clockwise until it is tight.

15. 15Screw the cam bolts into the top

    Lay the top upside down and screw 4 cam bolts (118331) into the holes near its ends.

16. 16Screw the wall brackets under the top

    Hold a wall bracket (106989) under the top near each back corner, its leg pointing away from the top at the back. Put a washer (100823) on a screw (109049) and drive it through the slot in the bracket’s foot, but not tight yet.

17. 17Stand it up and lay on the top common mistake

    With two people, stand the frame up. Push 4 dowels into the top edges of the sides, then lay the top on, its wall brackets at the back, so its cam bolts and the dowels go into their holes. Common mistake: The top’s cam bolts and dowels line up either way round, so it goes on back to front too. Then the wall brackets hang at the front, where the drawers hit them, and the top’s edge that belongs at the back is at the front. Put it on with the brackets at the back, as the manual shows.

18. 18Lock the top

    Put a cam lock into each of the 4 round holes in the sides just under the top, arrow to the bolt, and turn each clockwise until it is tight.

19. 19Lay it down and put on the back panel

    With two people, lay the chest on its front. Unfold the back panel, lay it on the back and push it into the top left corner, then hammer in a nail (101221) there.

20. 20Nail the top right corner

    Push the back panel against the right side and hammer a nail into the top right corner.

21. 21Nail the bottom left corner

    Push the back panel against the left side and hammer a nail into the bottom left corner.

22. 22Nail on the back panel

    Hammer in 27 more nails all round: along the top, down each side and along the bottom.

23. 23Stand it against the wall and mark the wall

    With two people, stand the chest up, turn it round and set it against the wall. Push each wall bracket back until its leg touches the wall and tighten its screw. Mark the wall with a pencil through the slot in each bracket’s leg.

24. 24Move it away from the wall

    Move the chest away from the wall, leaving the two pencil marks.

25. 25Drill the holes

    The plugs and screws in the box suit most solid and hollow walls; in solid wood, use the screws without the plugs. In a solid wall, drill an 8 mm hole 70 mm deep at each mark.

26. 26Put in the wall plugs

    Push a wall plug (121714) into each hole and tap it in with a hammer until it is flush with the wall.

27. 27Screw it to the wall

    Move the chest back against the wall. Drive a wall screw (109048) with a washer through the slot in each bracket’s leg into the plug, until it is tight.

28. 28Drawers: screw the cam bolts into the fronts

    Now the three drawers, one step at a time for all three, as the drawers’ booklet shows. Lay each drawer front face down and screw 4 cam bolts (118331) into the holes in its back.

29. 29Drawers: stand the sides on the fronts

    Push 2 dowels (101345) into the front end of each drawer side. Stand the sides on the fronts, over the cam bolts, their grooves facing in. The top drawer’s left side has the warning label inside.

30. 30Drawers: lock the sides

    Put a cam lock into each of the 4 round holes inside the sides of each drawer, arrow to the bolt, and turn it clockwise until it is tight.

31. 31Drawers: slide in the bottoms

    Slide a bottom into the grooves of each drawer, white side in, until it reaches the front.

32. 32Drawers: slide on the backs

    Slide a back in between the sides of each drawer, onto the bottom, until it is flush with the ends of the sides.

33. 33Drawers: fasten the backs, fit the bumpers

    Hammer 4 plastic fasteners (110519) through the sides of each drawer into its back, two at each corner. Press a bumper (115339) into each bottom corner of the back of each front.

34. 34Drawers: screw on the runners

    Turn each drawer upside down. Lay a runner along the bottom edge of each side, its wheel at the back, and fix it with 3 screws (100365): two into the side and one through its tab into the front.

35. 35Drawers: fit the supports

    Drive a screw (105344) into the hole in the back of each front, leaving its head out. Hook the keyhole of a support (123833) over it, slide it on, and fix its other end to the back with another screw.

36. 36Put the drawers in common mistake

    Turn each drawer the right way up. Set its wheels into the runners in the frame, front tilted up, and push it in: the bottom drawer first. Done. Common mistake: A chest of drawers that is not fixed to the wall tips forward easily: with two drawers pulled out and a child climbing on them, or something heavy in them, it falls. That is why IKEA puts the wall fixing in the box and the label in the top drawer: screw both brackets to the wall, with the plugs and screws that suit your wall.

Parts and hardware checklist

Tools you need

• Hammer · Taps in the back panel’s 30 nails, the wall plugs and the drawers’ 12 plastic fasteners.
• Cross-head screwdriver · Screws in the 26 cam bolts, the brackets’ screws, the wall screws and the drawers’ runners and supports.
• Flat screwdriver · Turns the 26 cam locks.
• Pencil · Marks the wall through the slots in the wall brackets.
• Drill · Not in the box. Drills the two holes in the wall for the plugs: 8 mm across and 70 mm deep in a solid wall.

Questions

Safety

Furniture that tips over can cause serious or fatal crushing injuries. IKEA says this chest of drawers must be fixed to the wall with the fixing in the box. Use plugs and screws that suit your wall, and ask a professional if you are not sure. Never let children climb on the drawers.

About this guide

The steps, the part numbers, the counts and the order come from IKEA's assembly manuals AA-2022888-8 (2025-12-10) and, for the drawers, AA-1971377-2 (2017-08-16). The outer size, 80 × 48 × 78 cm, is IKEA's published size. Board thicknesses, the drawers’ boxes, the rails, the runners and the hole positions are read off IKEA’s dimension drawing and the manual’s drawings, so they are close, not measured. The 3D runs faster than real hands do.

IKEA gives the drawers as 72 × 43 cm inside, pulling out 27 cm, 148 litres in all.

The manufacturer's instructions are on IKEA's product page (PDF, drawers PDF). If something here differs from the manual in your box, follow the manual.

The 3D models, drawings and text are our own. IKEA and MALM are named only to say which product this guide is for.