Hi! I am Jim. We are talking about how to build the perfect nursery. We are now going to talk about dresser construction and what to look for when buying a dresser for your child.

When consumers come in the great beginnings, they mostly look for how drawers are made. There are three different ways to build a drawer. The most noteworthy one and the one that you can always see, this is what's called an English dovetail. It's definitely the most desirable and symbolically the best dovetail joinery of the three different choices. Basically, it joints like this and this is how they hold the sideboards to the front of a dresser.

The second type of dovetailing is called the French dovetail. This type of dovetail you can see only from underneath, notice the triangle shape cut out, the side of the drawer fits into the front of the door that allows the sideboards to move independently at the front. It's very similar, probably done on the same router as this one, just a little bit more disguised.

Consumers note this one more and assume this is a better quality, but in reality they are both very comparable. The last type would be a butt joint and it's just attached, nailed, or glued there, usually stapled or nailed in the back. One of the best types of drawer guides in the market is a gentle touch-drawer guide. You can't see it from the side, because it's in an undermount steel roller guide. When you close it, it stops and slowly draws in. What's really nice about the system is a small child can't get his fingers caught in the drawers, because it stops and then draws in slowly.

Also, if the dresser does tip over, all the drawer will roll out at the same time, it keeps them in. The most common roller guides system you will find is a side mounted steel roller guide. You can see it mounted on the side of the dresser and it usually has a nylon wheel on the backside. The right side is a grabber track, it is a U-shaped track at the left sides are floater track. This is a steel roller guide. The problem with a steel roller guide is that if you push it in the left side, because of the floater track smooth it has a tendency to bind. You have to push in the center or from the sides. It's a most common roller guide used in the most kitchens and on most furniture with roller guides.

The next aspect of drawer construction, you almost have to take the drawer out to check it out. Flip it over, see how it's built. Things to look for are corner blocks which add strength and rigidity to the drawer bottom and a center strengthener. That way if weight is put in the center, it will add to the strength of the dress drawer. Now let's talk about a little bit of other types of woods. Generally, hardwoods are more desirable, maples, birches, oaks, mahoganies, are all considered some of the best quality hard woods for making furniture.

Pine that comes from Southern US and even from South America is a lot softer, has a tendency to have lot more graining in it, and have knots. Well, definitely done easier than a hardwood and have a tendency to crack easier. Generally, it's put on cheaper dressers whereas a hardwood tends to be more of an upper-end product.

If you notice a graining on this birch dresser, it's usually smooth, whereas you look at this pine dresser, you can see knots and change up of coloring and textures. A lot of customers don't like this. It looks a little more incomplete. The next step for building your perfect nursery are glider rockers.