IKEA HEMNES 2-Drawer Chest Review: Solid Pine At Ten Times The KNARREVIK

White HEMNES two-drawer chest of drawers in solid pine with black knobs, standing on four legs

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In this guide

THE SHORT VERSION

HEMNES is the IKEA series people buy when they have decided they want wood. The 2-drawer chest in white stain, article 802.426.27, is the smallest storage piece in the range: 21 1/4 inches wide, 15 deep and 26 high, with two drawers that IKEA rates at 1.3 cubic feet of storage between them. IKEA's category tree puts it under dressers and chests of drawers, but the description ends with the line that it can also be used as a nightstand, and many of the reviews shown on the page call it a nightstand outright.

The price is $149.99 in the US, which makes it ten times the KNARREVIK steel nightstand this site has reviewed and $90 more than the $59.99 STORKLINTA nightstand. What you get for the money is solid pine in the case and the drawer boxes, quiet drawers with a pull-out stop, and an 8 7/8 inch drawer extension. What you also get is a 33 lb flat pack, an assembly booklet that runs 32 pages, and a hard requirement to fasten the chest to the wall.

Our verdict

A $149.99 solid-pine bedside chest with two real drawers and 1,383 ratings averaging 4.5 stars; buy it for wood and closed storage, and accept the wall anchor and the assembly time that come with it.

A good fit for: A bedroom where the nightstand also has to hold folded clothes or paperwork out of sight, on a wall that can take two screws, next to a bed of standard height.
We would skip it if: You rent and cannot drill into the wall, you want an open shelf you can reach without pulling a drawer, or $15 of powder-coated steel already does the job.

Reasons to consider it

Main parts, drawer sides and drawer backs are solid pine, not particleboard with foil
Two drawers with a pull-out stop and 1.3 cu ft of closed storage, plus a small-parts insert
The same chest comes in black-brown, and the wider HEMNES range shares both finishes

The compromises

The assembly booklet requires a tip-over restraint screwed to the wall, with 8 mm and 3 mm drill sizes shown
Recent owner reviews mention long assembly times, and one repeat buyer calls the current build cheaper-feeling than older HEMNES pieces
HEMNES bedroom furniture does not appear on IKEA's US limited-warranty list, so returns are the only coverage

What we have not verified: No unit was assembled or loaded for this article; drawer runner feel, finish consistency and how the 26-inch height suits a given bed were read from IKEA's pages and the assembly booklet only, and no drawer load limit is published.

The things in this guide

A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.

For a nightstand with real drawers

HEMNES Chest of Drawers

Solid pine main parts and drawer boxes, two full-depth drawers with 12 1/4 inches of inside depth and a small-parts insert, a 4.5-star average over 1,383 reviews, and a matching HEMNES range if the bedroom grows into it.

Before you buy: It costs $149.99 against $14.99 for a steel KNARREVIK, needs a wall anchor and a drill, and several recent reviews report assembly running well past an hour.

$149.99 at IKEA

Price checked September 11, 2026. Retailer prices can change.

Two drawers, an insert, and a 26-inch top

The chest stands 26 inches high on four short legs with 4 3/8 inches of clearance underneath, which is enough for a robot vacuum to pass and enough to lose a sock. The top is 21 1/4 by 15 inches, so a lamp, a phone and a glass fit without touching. Below it are two drawers of equal size; IKEA gives the inside depth as 12 1/4 inches and the extension as 8 7/8 inches, which means the back third of each drawer stays inside the case when it is pulled to its stop. IKEA's storage figure for the pair is 1.3 cubic feet.

One drawer has a removable insert for small things, and IKEA's sizing note says a drawer takes about five pairs of folded pants or ten T-shirts. Read that as a real chest, not a bedside tray. If you want an open shelf for a book you reach for in the dark, the other HEMNES bedside piece is the Nightstand with one drawer and a shelf under it, at $129.99 and a height of 27 1/2 inches; it gives up half the closed storage for the reach. The page for the 2-drawer chest also tags a built-in cable-management feature, though the description text never says where the opening is.

Solid pine in the case and drawer boxes, fiberboard behind

The materials list is the argument for the price. Main parts are solid pine with adhesive, stain and a clear acrylic lacquer; drawer sides and drawer backs are solid pine as well. The drawer bottoms are fiberboard with acrylic paint and the back panel is plain fiberboard, which is the usual construction for a chest at any price and is not something to hold against it. The finish IKEA calls white stain lets the grain show through, so grain and knots read through the white, and two units bought a year apart may not match perfectly.

Set that against the KNARREVIK, which is steel tube with an epoxy and polyester powder coat, one shelf, no drawers, 16 1/2 by 13 1/4 by 20 1/2 inches and $14.99. The KNARREVIK weighs 8.5 lb boxed and bolts together in six steps; the HEMNES ships as a single 33 lb pack that measures 26 1/2 by 18 3/4 by 4 1/4 inches and takes a 32-page booklet. A steel frame is the answer for a spare room or a starter flat, and a pine chest is the answer for a bedroom you plan to keep for years. Both are honest about what they are; the price ratio of ten to one is the cost of wood and closed drawers.

The wall restraint is mandatory, and the reviews argue about assembly

Page two of the assembly booklet carries a full tip-over warning: serious or fatal crushing injuries can occur from furniture tip-over, always secure this furniture to the wall using tip-over restraints, keep the heaviest items in the lower drawer, and never set a TV or let a child climb on it. The hardware page shows 8 mm and 3 mm drill diameters, so you need a drill, the right anchor for your wall type, and permission to make the hole. A 26-inch chest with two drawers open is a lever, and IKEA's description even ends with a reminder to attach it to the wall. Treat the restraint as part of the product, not an option.

The 1,383 reviews average 4.5 stars, and the sub-score for ease of assembly is the lowest of the five at 4.2 against 4.6 for appearance. The recent three- and four-star reviews explain the spread: one owner reports 4 1/2 hours because parts were unmarked and had to be matched to the drawings by counting holes, another who has bought three HEMNES sets says the updated version is harder to build and feels cheaper than earlier ones. Against that, an owner from June 2021 calls it durable at the five-year mark, and a reviewer who assembled a six-drawer HEMNES the week before calls this one much easier. Plan an afternoon, lay out the case rails first, and expect the booklet's 32 pages to be mostly drawings.

Returns run long, delivery costs extra, and there is no listed warranty

IKEA's US returns accept new and unopened items for 365 days and opened items for 180 days, with the receipt, and the money goes back the way it came. That is long enough to build the chest, live with it, and still return it if a drawer arrives misdrilled or the white stain does not match the dresser. The bedroom section of IKEA's US limited-warranty page covers mattresses only, and HEMNES bedroom storage is absent from every list on that page, so once the 180 days pass the only route for a failed runner is spare parts through customer service.

Delivery is the other cost to add. Large-item standard delivery starts at $29 for non-members and $19 for IKEA Family members on orders of $35 or more, with the starting price rising to $49 and $39 in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and New York; the cart shows the real figure for your zip code. Pickup at a store avoids the fee, and the single 33 lb pack is 26 1/2 inches on its longest side. Care is a cloth dampened with mild cleaner and a dry wipe afterward, and the lacquer over the stain is what keeps a water ring from a glass from soaking into the pine.

Skip it if the wall is off limits or the shelf matters more

Renters who cannot drill have the clearest reason to walk away. Without the restraint the chest is a tip hazard by IKEA's own warning, and a two-drawer pine box is not something to lean against a wall unfastened in a room where a child sleeps. In that situation the KNARREVIK at $14.99 or the STORKLINTA nightstand at $59.99 is the better fit, and neither asks for a hole in the drywall to be used as intended. Look elsewhere if you want reach-in storage: a drawer you pull is slower than a shelf you grab.

Hold off as well when $149.99 buys more chest than the room needs. Two drawers that each take ten folded T-shirts are generous for a nightstand, and the 15-inch depth is deeper than most bedside tables, so measure the walkway on the bed side before ordering. For a bedroom that is furnished to stay, on a wall that takes a screw, with a weekend afternoon free for the booklet, the pine, the closed storage and the matching series are what the extra $135 over a steel frame is paying for.

How we put this together

Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.

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