N,N'-diethylurea (DEU) was employed as a ligand to form the octahedral complexes [M(DEU)6]2+ (M=Co, Ni and Zn). Compounds [Co(DEU)6](BF4)2 (1), [Co(DEU)6](CIO4)2 (2), [Ni(DEU)6](CIO4)2 (3), and [Zn(DMU)6](CIO4)2 (4) have been prepared from the reactions of DEU and the appropriate hydrated metal(II) salts in EtOH in the presence of 2,2-dimethoxypropane. Crystal structure determinations demonstrate the existence of [M(DEU)6]2+ cations and CIO4− (in 2–4) or BF4− (in 1) counterions. The [M(DEU)6]2+ cations in the solid state are stabilized by a pseudochelate effect due to the existence of six strong intracationic N-H ⋯ O(DEU) hydrogen bonds. The [M(DEU)6]2+ cations and counterions self-assemble to form hydrogen-bonded 2D architectures in 2–4 that conform to the kgd (kagome dual) network, and a 3D hydrogen-bonded rtl (rutile) network in 1. The nature of the resulting supramolecular structures is influenced by the nature of the counter-ion. The complexes were also characterized by vibrational spectroscopy (IR).