The requested URL /gb/en/products/sofas-armchairs/sofa-beds-chair-beds/lycksele-l%c3%b6v%c3%a5s-chair-bed-ransta-white-spr-49840086/ was not found.When it comes to budget furniture, nobody does it better than IKEA. But part of that cost-saving is labor–the labor that you put in to turn that flat-pack box into a piece of furniture. As with any DIY project, ready-to-assemble furniture is an adventure; a composite of tribulations and accomplishment. Recently, after a project that was more tribulation than accomplishment, I wrote down some ideas that would prevent the myriad mistakes I’ve made building IKEA furniture. I applied these recently to a credenza from CB2; lo and behold, I managed to build a solid piece of furniture without breaking it or putting anything on upside down. It was a miracle. To me, this meant that these 10 concepts are more than just IKEA assembly tips–they’re revelations worth shouting from the mountaintops to all future flat-pack builders. I humbly present to you, righteous assembler, The Ten Commandments of IKEA Furniture.
Before you even unbox your furniture, you should physically prepare the area you’ll be working in. You should give yourself enough room that the finished piece could be laid down and you could comfortably walk around every side of it (because, in many cases, that’s exactly how it’s built). Open the box and read the instructions. Make a mental note of any steps that require rotation and ensure you have enough space to do that. Also, unless you’re working on carpet, use a rug (or the box that the furniture came in) to protect both the floor and the furniture. The first section of an IKEA instruction manual includes a summary of the pieces that should be included in the box. First, open up the hardware bags and organize them as you count them. You can use small bowls or get creative–ice cube trays, egg cartons, muffin tins, or a simple loop of tape are recommended in this Reddit post. You’ll want to do the same with the furniture pieces to familiarize yourself with each piece.
Is this the top or the bottom of the dresser? Are they identical and interchangeable, or are they actually slightly different? The reason we recommend inventorying hardware and fasteners first is because these are the most likely to get left out. Missing pieces are a common IKEA woe, so make sure everything is there. If it’s not, find the six-digit part number in the instructions. You have a few options to get the missing piece: you can visit a nearby store’s “missing a part” section, call your local store (ask for the relevant department rather than going through the operator), or fill out this online request form and get the piece mailed to you. IKEA often recommends (wordlessly via a gender-neutral stick figure) the use of simple screwdrivers, hammers, and the included Allen keys to construct its pieces, but you can make the job faster and easier if you bring some of your own tools. For easier assembly of all IKEA furniture, this is what I recommend you bring: