I have to agree with this. I love it, for some unknown reason. I’ve even been known to offer to assemble other peoples IKEA furniture. I particularly enjoy that little allen key they package in with the bolts and screws. That thing is like magic! It’s the most versatile tool around! You can often put together whole items with only the tiny, magical allen key.
Good times.
I also enjoy it. There’s something so terribly impressive about it. Someone not only made a thing, but took it apart and told me the exact sequence to make it myself out of this stack of things!
I also absolutely love the pictograms on the first page.
Sad IKEA man lifts things alone. Happy IKEA man has a helper!
Sad IKEA man assembles on a hard floor and the item get scratched. Happy IKEA man assembles on a rug!
Sad IKEA man is confused by the instructions. Happy IKEA man calls the store!
I’ve assembled furniture from a few different manufacturers, and I give kudos to Ikea. A good variable speed drill makes a big difference.
I love Ikea furniture. We just got a store in Charlotte and the boyfriend and I introduced ourselves to it a few months ago. It’s amazing how clever they do those things! Now, the drawers are a pain in the ass, but the instructions are very clear and we found it all quite easy to assemble, even a couch that came in six boxes. Took both of us together, but it wasn’t at all difficult.
IME, Ikea puts tons of thought into how a thing goes together and making it nearly foolproof. Clear pictures and a minimum of different screw sizes go a long way to making it easy. There may be a lot of screws in the bag, but once you sort them out, it’s usually only four very distinct types.
As someone said above, if a hole isn’t lining up, STOP and figure out what piece you’ve put in backwards. Over the years, I’ve built enough Billys to outfit a library and enough Markor to make a market. Never have I encountered a missing or misplaced hole.
If you plan on putting together a lot of Ikea stuff, invest in a variable-speed drill - a small 9.6 volt one will have enough power and won’t weigh half a ton. Ideally, get one with a variable clutch so you can set it and not worry about stripping the anchor bolts out. Or just squeeze the trigger lightly and go slow. If you overdrive a screw and strip out a hole, you’re pretty much done for.
Also, invest the couple of bucks for a metric hex driver bit. Sure, the little allen key in the bag works, but when you’ve got something with 24 allen-head screws, you’ll appreciate not having to twist your wrist off. Off the top of my head, I think it’s a 5-mm, or “M5” size, but don’t hold me to that. 
4mm I think (by which I mean the hex driver is 4mm.) 4mm hex screws are very popular in self assembled furniture; I have about a gazillion of the little drivers supplied with each piece of furniture in my toolbox.
I also love assembling Ikea furniture, but I also do 3-d jigsaws for fun.
Hmm, my power screwdriver (admittedly a bit old) doesn’t have a level. I get the screw started and straight with a manual one and finish off the boring part with the power one. The secret is watching as you screw (the screw) to correct when you go out of true. Starting with the power one can get you messed up faster in some cases.
I agree. It’s tiring. And also confusing at times, having to follow the less-than-enlightening instructions.
When I was putting together a filing cabinet I couldn’t make head nor tail of the instructions, so I rang the customers’ hotline, to have this helpful exchange:
Me: Hello. I’m trying to put together your filing cabinet Item no. XXXXX. I have a question.
Ikea operator: Let me guess. You’re at step no. 27, aren’t you?
Me: Yes, that’s right. How did you know?
Ikea operator: Because everyone rings us once they get to step 27.
Me: So why don’t you fix the instructions at step 27?
Ikea operator: If I had a dollar for every time a customer has asked that question I’d be richer than Mr Ikea himself…
I finally put together one stinking thing where a screw was missing. So if you live somewhere with an IKEA, no problem. If you don’t… well, it’s been on my “go to Lowe’s” list for ages. I meant to go by IKEA the last time I flew into Charlotte… no, got there at 2:30 AM THANK YOU DELTA. Next time… no, there with seven people and also late. I will never have a handle on this drawer as long as I live.
Welp, I just finished. You know what I learned?
I learned that screwing things in go a lot faster when you actually use the correct sized head on your screwdriver.
:smack:
Too small?
Yeah. If it’d been too big, I’d have had a LOT more trouble, and probably figured out something was wrong a lot sooner!
What happened with the crooked screws?
Well, I was still getting them, but it seemed easier to “make” them straighten out by just continuing to screw them in.
cool
For those of you with stubborn Ikea assembly still in your future, I totally advise getting a ratcheting multi-bit screwdriver. They’re relatively cheap, lightweight, and help a lot – I find them easier to use than a drill, especially when you’re reaching at an awkward angle. And if you already have a toolbox full of screwdrivers, you can keep the multi one somewhere else handy, like in your pen cup or desk drawer (or stuck to the fridge with a rare-earth magnet, like we did), and find yourself fixing all the mildly-annoying-but-not-really-that-important loose screws in your life.
…on a phone that is hardwired directly from his home to the store. I want one of those.
This is me, as well. I especially like flaming out at the store itself, then getting it home and grunting and sweating and swearing and being all butch putting the thing together, and then (for example) arranging all my teapots in the hutch I just put together.
I dunno. For me it’s like that company that made a cake mix that all you had to add was water, but it didn’t sell, so they changed it so that you had to add an egg, which gave consumers the feeling of having made something themselves.
Must be that time of year–I’ve scheduled a Come Screw in My Living Room party for tomorrow! About a half-dozen friends are coming over with tools and we’re going to assemble the Ikea furniture that’s been sitting boxed in my living room for about a year, shut up, my place was a mess.
I’m sure it’s not what you meant, but the bolded part made me snicker.
That’s exactly what I’ve been calling it–“grown-up Legos.”
Even more fun - putting together a prefab shed. I bought my screwdriver for this job (excellent for screwing down the roof with your hand over your head and not able to see screw, hole, or screwdriver.) Having all those pieces fit together was great fun. Still in use 13 years later, moved from one part of the yard to another, and it still doesn’t leak.