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Comment by robterrell | Hacker News Reader

This is hilarious/perfect to me personally, because I have only ever used TaskRabbit to hire someone to build Ikea furniture.

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There are people who don't care to build their own Ikea furniture? How strange! I've always enjoyed building my own Ikea furniture! :)

Agreed. I'm not sure where the misconception of their furniture being difficult to build comes from. In my experience their instructions are unambiguous and well-designed.

I can't agree more, for the furniture I have bought, Ikea's instructions are pretty exemplary.

Without any written words, the instructions are very clear on how to assemble the furniture.

If you pay attention when reading them, it is not possible to make a mistake.

On the other hand, I have also bought from other RDA furnitures and have encountered some obscure instructions.

> If you pay attention when reading them

Ah, that's the problem. We all know that users never read the manual. :)

There's a difference between building "your one desk" and assembling 10 of them for the new company office. It gets old after a few hours :P

Ikea furniture and instructions are Lego of the furniture world. Anyone with half a brain and some patience can assemble it.

I also like that you don't need to be a literate person to assemble their furniture (wordless instructions).

They are. The times I've been caught were clearly my mistake. Those times and various close calls have been cases of almost symmetry. I've also done things like building two identical units in series or parallel and watched myself learn. I can imagine a great speed up with practice. An apartment's worth of furniture could take me a day, and I can well imagine paying someone $100 for an hour instead.

From 30 years ago.

Seriously, at that time the instructions came in gibberish with extremely weird illustrations and you were usually wondering why you had surplus screws.

The design of IKEA furniture at that time was, let's just say, a lot more rustic too.

I put together a couple of wardrobes for a friend which was fine, but she still had to get a genuinely useful person in to drill them together and attach to wall etc as I lacked the tools.

It's not particularly difficult but nor is it particularly fun. I certainly don't plan to assemble the furniture for my next apartment myself.

But is that because you'll pay someone to assemble similar furniture, or because you'll buy better furniture that isn't just IKEA flat-packs?

I came to the same conclusion as morgante, next time I'd rather pay for assembly instead of doing it for myself for a whole weekend.

It reads like you plan to get entirely new furniture when you move. What’s wrong with the furniture you already own?

I don't currently own any furniture. For the past few years, I've been moving every month or two and never acquired any furniture.

Ah, ok. That makes more sense!

Reminds me of a funny story. I'd give up smoking and was on day 3. It took me several hours and I had a desk but almost looked inside out by the time I'd finished.

Otherwise, it's quite relaxing. I find it enjoyable. The times I see people struggle is when they eschew the instructions.

Yes, but they're sometimes also heavy, or would benefit from more than one person working on it at a time.

I wouldn't go so far as to say enjoy.

Unless you get one of the few pieces that are all steel (eg their kitchen wall shelves are quite good) or the even rarer solid timber pieces, its not really that great, it's just cheap (by western standards)

However I also find it weird that there are people who can't put together IKEA furniture. Then again, in Thailand everything that needs assembly will get you a "would you like that assembled (for free)?", usually in-store. This goes for furniture, gardening equipment, you name it.

Whoof, can't stand it, myself. I don't know what it is about the activity, but it just bores/frustrates me silly.

It's not hard! It's perfectly within the realm of accomplishment! I have already built my IKEA desk, bed, table, and bookshelves. I just really disliked every minute of it.

> I just really disliked every minute of it.

Reminds me of a marathon I ran. Did it give me a feeling of accomplishment afterwards? No, just really, really disliked the whole experience. Every min.

I seem to remember a survey that showed people who assembled their own Ikea furniture valued it higher than people who didn't.

That is strange. Even as a Swede I would probably value a Billy more if it came pre assambled, so I was not made actively aware of low quality materials and holes drilled in not-quite-the-right places.

Maybe a cultural thing. I always got the impression IKEA is more respected in other countries, while in Sweden it is seen as cheap furniture owned by everyone.

I think it's certainly seen as cheap elsewhere, but usually of better quality than comparably cheap furniture.

I think that's true. But, in addition, in the US going to an Ikea is usually a bit of an expedition as there aren't that many stores. The stores themselves make things a bit of an event because they're different from the norm, have a fairly nice cafeteria, etc. Add it up and there's a certain aura to Ikea furniture that wouldn't exist if you picked up the exact same box at the local Walmart.

A standard of living thing, you Swedes are richer than almost everyone else.

At some point, McDonalds here (ass end of Eastern Europe) was a place where well-dressed grandparents took their well-dressed kids on Sunday lunches.

Right now Ikea is something people aspire to, as a mark of getting into the middle class. There's A LOT of cheaper, crapier local stuff, with bleached pine wood you can leave a visible dent on if you drop a plate on. (Funny thing is, many of the same furniture factories also work for Ikea.)

It is cheap, and it do not hold up well - but that is why it is cheap.

It's not all rubbish, I've got a solid wood kitchen table from them which is already quite a few years old and looks like it will last a long time.

Their solid wood and better-than-usual-finish furniture are not cheap though. So that goes out the window.

The phenomenon has actually been the subject of a couple of studies, it has been dubbed "The Ikea effect"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA_effect

My parents, who do small-scale construction and decorating, get non-trivial numbers of enquiries about fixing people's poorly-assembled Ikea furniture.

The problem - is simply dimensions..

I had a ikea desk, which is simply not deep enough - when i sit on it, my hands palm are on the border of the desk. You can not work this way.

It's a meme that a couple who assembles Ikea furniture together is jeopardizing their relationship.

Haha, yea, that is strictly a one-person job.

It’s less fun when you need to do four identical chairs, or two dressers with six identical drawers.

Some don't have a helping hand and/or cannot follow the instructions (most of the time low quality) and/or don't have the patience and/or have a screw +/- left at the end and/or etc...

> most of the time low quality

Huh? Do they have instruction leaflets where you live? I live in Germany, about 80% of my furniture is Ikea, and I've always found the instructions to be very precise. I was never confused about what to do.

(I won't argue that some furniture needs an additional pair of hands to assemble just because of the weight, of course.)

The Do-it-yourself part is what protects Ikea from all complaints on this earth. Why would they punnish themselves.

...or to pick up furniture at an IKEA location, since they're usually way out in the suburbs and shipping prices are exorbitant.

...unless you just bought $3K of furniture after a move and it only cost $49 to deliver downtown!

How do you manage to spend 3k in IKEA?

50 Billys. Why, where do you keep the rest of your books?

On my smartphone. :)

HAHAHA. But, the ebooks are just not the same experience of a physical book. But, I do use both the ebooks and books - depending on the book type.

I'm one of those possibly-rare people who considers the ebook experience superior to the physical book. No bookmarks necessary, can read on Kindle while home and continue reading on my phone while out, mega-cheap if you watch for deals, hundreds of books available to read at any time...what's not to love?

Even 50 Billys comes to just £1750 here in the UK.

(More if you want colour, of course...)

I moved into a apartment in a new city with no furniture. It’s quite possible to rack up a bill like this.

I wouldn't personally use IKEA in that case but an unfurnished house/apartment takes a lot of stuff to become usable.

What would you use?

There are a few things I like IKEA for (the aforementioned "Grundtal" kitchen racks work really well) but generally I prefer more individual furniture (watch Friends where Phoebe responds to Pottery Barn furniture if you want to understand better), and as I'm a little older, I prefer timber furniture (I had more steel/glass stuff when I was in my 20's), which is where IKEA fails hardest, because practically all their "wooden" furniture is just particle board/plywood.

So, for furniture I try to use smaller local places that either sell direct or at least are selling locally built stuff (this works in my favour when you consider the above - shipping assembled solid-timber furniture isn't cheap). This obviously doesn't work everywhere, but I detest living in the city so it hasn't been a problem for me so far.

For general housewares like kitchen utensils/etc I don't see a lot of difference between IKEA/<Name your local shop with homewares: Kmart, Target, etc> so it's just whoever has what I want, but IKEA's constant focus on low price also makes me a little wary of anything that isn't obviously just solid steel/wood (e.g. anything with a steel 'head' and wood/plastic/rubber handle, is basically guaranteed to fall apart) because in my experience these items embody 'you get what you pay for'.

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Personally, IKEA fits my lifestyle pretty well as a young urban-dweller. I don't really anticipate having my furniture for more than 5-10 years and their aesthetic definitely matches my preferences.

I've actually looked at some more "premium" stores and really disliked a lot of their merchandise unless it was obscenely expensive (ie. 10x the price of IKEA).

Well for quality furniture 10x the price of IKEA is not really obscene (depends on which price point of IKEA you're talking about - there are some more "high-end-ish" things there).

But in furniture you get what you pay for - but it has to work with your life (if you are changing your place to live every year or so I don't see the point in buying expensive furniture).

If you stay in one place (or at least are planning to do so) quality furniture which matches your rooms is great (at least for me).

IKEA is replaceable furniture. You don't take it with you.

A couch, a bedframe, a mattress, maybe a dresser, and end tables?

Swedish meatballs.

First: have a lot of money.

Not necessary. They take VISA.

Start with $1000 for a couch, $500 for a mattress. You're already halfway there.

Precisely. While I happen to enjoy building IKEA furniture (in small doses), I would be pleased never to pick it up from a store ever again.

The ikea in Beijing is just next to 4th ring, and delivery is only like 1 or 2 hundred rmb, assembly is just another hundred RMB.

In the states, it is $49-$99, but don't even ask about assembly.

I'm not an Ikea consumer but wasn't one of their big break throughs flat packing of furniture so that it was cheaper to ship?

LOL.

I enjoy building Ikea products. It is adult LEGO for your home etc.

But, smart play by Ikea I would have to say.

TaskRabbit was cheaper than IKEA's own build service?

IKEA is almost always cheaper, but the service is horrible. They outsource the build service to local contractors and it's a hit or miss, mostly miss.

I bought a closet from IKEA and arranged the service through them. They sent 3 dudes who couldn't speak a word of english. On top of that, the 3 dudes got mad that there was no parking in San Francisco and left. So I had to call IKEA again and get them to come on a Sunday (free street parking).

The actual assembly was also sloppy. The doors weren't aligned properly, some screws were missing (making the door weaker). The left door started to come off after 2 months. Rather than call IKEA and have some other stooge come and make it worse, I looked up youtube videos on how to fix door screw holes (you use glue and wood chips) and fixed it myself.

Personally I build IKEA furniture myself. It's very straightforward and often pretty fun.

I have never met anyone that doesn't do this. I must be living in a different bubble than most people here.

Plus if something isn't right, you really only have yourself to blame, which is nice.

Plus, you can build it "right" (wood glue on all joints, extra corner braces, etc.) It makes it impossible to disassemble but I find that IKEA furniture doesn't handle disassembly and reassembly that well anyways.

tbh I'd imagine most furniture wouldn't either. It's a one way trip.

Speaking from experience with a corner computer desk made out of MDF, yes - I'm amazed it survived being disassembled and moved at all, but it didn't make it the second time.

Metal-and-glass furniture such as certain computer desks, TV stands, etc. can be repeatedly disassembled and reassembled.

Ikea will take back (refund or replace) even the most pathetic attempt at assembly. I had one embarrassing fail and didn't expect sympathy and was really just hoping for a destroyed part replacement (even buying it). They just gave me a whole new unit no questions asked.

If the trip is worth your time.

That's kind of a double-edged sword.

Our city has a local autistic savant who did this: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/01/17/autistic_mans...

Great to see someone with those challenges find a way to be productive. But the article seems to disagree with the above label:

"The boy didn’t show an interest at first, noted Mark, who stresses his son isn’t an 'autistic savant.'"

I looked up youtube videos on how to fix door screw holes (you use glue and wood chips)

As an aside for anyone else that wants to try this next time they strip a screw hole, I find it easier to cram a bunch of toothpicks in the hole, with wood glue, then snap the toothpicks off flush with the surface.

This works in a plaster wall as well, you could use matches if you don't have toothpicks.

I use wooden dowels that I get for free from Ikea. Drill a hole large enough in the stripped area or the dowel, use a bit of wood glue and then hammer the dowel in.

It's perfect.

Golf tees. Good hard wood.

Having not had a golf tee in my hands in a good ten years, aren't they too hard to snap off? IOW, I'd have to saw or sand it flush, right? Regardless, toothpicks I have. I'd have to go buy golf tees. :-)

The service is absolutely abysmal.

I once had an appointment through Ikea for a few items to be delivered. It took 4 different missed appointments for them to finally deliver it. It was a nightmare. First one they never contacted us when they arrived (I live in an apartment building, no way in for non-tenants). Second one was apparently never put in the system. Same with the third one despite me calling the night before to confirm that everything went through, they even confirmed with the third party delivery service. Fourth time it finally showed up.

Would not recommend.

We paid to have a mattress delivered and the old taken away. They showed up at 9pm. They refused to take the mattress up a flight of stairs to our bedroom, they left it in our living room. And they tried to refuse to take the old mattress but I had the work order that specifically said they were taking the old one. When I showed it they said they needed to see my membership card, hoping I couldn't produce it.

My wife was 7 months pregnant and my daughter had a broken wrist, so I had to carry a king size mattress up a flight of stairs by myself so we had somewhere to sleep that night.

My wife raised hell and got the delivery fee refunded but wtf.

Never again.

Agreed, the logistics company IKEA uses - North American Logistics Group is the worst.

A table top got damaged so they had to get me a new one and they said I should call them to reschedule. It was impossible to reach anyone. Even talking to IKEA CS on the phone was clueless as to what to do.

I finally just sent a DM to IKEA customer service on Twitter and they got everything sorted out. So if you need help just message them on Twitter.

This sounds similar to their home delivery service which is awful. The guys dragged my mattress through mud in the yard and wanted cash to bring it to the bedroom because they said they were only responsible for getting it into the house.

I recently had this experience:

* Day 0: order a bunch of IKEA stuff with delivery

* Day 15: get message saying all items ready for delivery, on Day 30

* Day 20: I call shipper and ask if we can reschedule for Day 37 -- no problem

* Day 35: shipper calls and says oops we actually only deliver to my town once a month so it'll have to be on Day 60

... many phone calls with contradicting info and "check with manager" ...

* Day 40: I pay a local contractor to pick items up from shipper's warehouse.

(No refund on shipping because it was "my fault.")

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