I Found an All-Wood Dresser that Took Only 25 Minutes to Assemble (It Looks So Luxe!)

There are basically two types of furniture in my house: vintage pieces that I bought at thrift stores, estate sales, and antique malls and had to lug home by car, and flat-pack pieces that involved dozens of screws and countless hours spent on the floor to assemble them. That’s why I was intrigued by the Thuma Nest dresser, which seemed like a perfect in-between option since it would ship straight to my house but promised a tool-free assembly.

I’d seen Thuma pop up on my various social media platforms, but only ever for their Instagram-famous bedframes that come together without any tools or screws. I wanted to try out the Nest dresser in its smallest size — a three-drawer stack — so it could serve a dual purpose in my guest bedroom as both a nightstand and a storage spot for towels and sheets (we didn’t yet have either). Thuma offered to send one for me to check out so I could see if it was worth the brand’s hype. Spoiler: I was not disappointed.

The Thuma Nest dresser is a modular furniture piece made up of preassembled solid wood drawers (each 15 inches long, 30 inches wide, and 5 inches deep) that stack on top of each other. While the Nest that I have is a three-drawer-tall stack, you can safely stack these up to five drawers tall, or line up multiple stacks together to create a longer dresser.

You don’t need any tools to put together a Nest dresser; instead, you’ll just stack the drawers and use a long threaded screw fastened inside the drawer frames to hold them together (you twist this in by hand). While most of the drawers are interchangeable, there is a designated base drawer that must go on the floor first (don’t worry, it’s clearly labeled!).

Because these drawers come preassembled, they arrive in separate boxes to make it doable to both ship and carry the furniture. Thuma says you should have two people lift these, and I agree — while I did this myself, it was difficult to manage.

After assembling and actually using the Thuma Nest dresser for the past month, I can say I’m a fan. This dresser is certainly the nicest piece of furniture I’ve ever had shipped, and holds its own against other preassembled solid wood pieces in my home in terms of overall structural integrity. No wobbles here!

While I only needed the smallest size, I love that this dresser is customizable to suit your space and needs. Not only does that mean that you can order whatever makes the most sense for your life right now, but it also means that you could add on to your drawers later if you require more storage. (I could see myself adding a couple drawers to the top of this dresser and turning it into a highboy for my own bedroom, for example.)

The modular design and ready-made drawers meant that the hardest part of putting this dresser together was unboxing it. It took only 25 minutes to put it together, including time to unbox and carry the drawers upstairs one by one. As I mentioned, I did this alone, but I recommend a helping hand if possible — the solid wood construction makes these pretty heavy (65 pounds for the base drawer and nearly 52 for each of the other drawers).

Once I had the drawers upstairs, it really was as easy as stacking them and twisting in a single screw by hand to secure. Having recently moved houses, I could see another advantage to this: The Nest dresser would be really easy to take apart and transport to a new home without having to hire help.

My dresser is the walnut finish, a classic medium-tone wood that works with my existing furniture (much of it is mid-century). This is my first-ever piece from Thuma, but I’m impressed enough with the quality and look that I’m eyeing their famous bedframe, too.

I use the Nest dresser to store sheet sets and towels, as well as charging cables so guests have what they need on hand. Other than a small lamp, I keep the top open so there’s plenty of space for a phone, water, book, and other bedside necessities. While Thuma does make designated nightstands, I think the storage capacity of this dresser and the generous size of its top makes it ideal for bedside use in small rooms.

A note: The brand offers felt pads for its dresser tops, so I added one to mine to try it out. While I like it for its protective qualities, I don’t think it’s necessary for either the look or function of the piece!

Bottom line: This brand might be known for its bedframes, but it makes an amazing dresser, too.

BUY: Thuma Nest Dresser 3×1, $1,155