The first step in successfully assembling IKEA furniture is choosing the right piece of furniture.
IKEA stores are designed for inspiration, not a direct comparison. As you wander from room to room, picturing yourself at home there (sometimes literally), you’re thinking more about your finished look than the You vs Furniture contest it might take to achieve it.
But the IKEA website has a handy customer rating system for Ease of Assembly/Installation (perhaps it’s less a rating system than a warning alert!). Since some IKEA pieces are easier to assemble than others, Household Quotes knew there had to be a better way to make use of these user scores.
We’ve previously identified the countries, states, and even forenames that are most linked with IKEA assembly stress. But, let’s face it, changing your name or hometown isn’t going to make that POÄNG any easier to put together. So, here’s our solution for your flatpack troubles: an interactive tool that reveals how hard your dream IKEA item is to assemble and the simplest alternatives in each category.
For example, that EKET cabinet you bought to keep your roomie’s belongings in check? You’d be better off getting another roomie (as you may both suggest while assembling it since the EKET scores just 2.9 for Ease Of Assembly). But type in EKET below, and suggestions will include the BRIMNES, which is just as handsome, just as capable of holding her vintage video game cases, and scores a 4.4 for saving friendships.
Scroll on past the interactive for a rundown on the most/least difficult item to assemble in each category and digital renders of the hardest/easiest living rooms arrangements to build.
The Hardest and Easiest IKEA Assemblies in Every Category
Let’s get these out of the way: the IKEA pieces to avoid. It is said that when you move home, the first thing you should do is prepare your bed so you can drop into it when you run out of steam. But if your bed is a SONGESAND, just sleep on your mattress until the dust settles. The SONGESAND is IKEA’s most difficult piece to assemble, and you are sure to lose your dignity along with your patience just when you need it the most.
Even when you get the SONGESAND built, reviewers warn, the bed is “sooo noisey , turning over is like being in a haunted house !!!” (IKEA recommends revisiting the instructions and further tightening the bolts). Altogether, you’ll wish you opted for the 5-rated SAGSTUA bed, which reviewers claim that two people can assemble in 30 minutes.
There is a piece rated 5 for Ease of Assembly in every major category except Dining Chairs, where the top-rated NISSE scores a forgivable 4.9. You might pair your SAGSTUA bed with the cute, boxy VIKHAMMER bedside table to keep essentials close to hand. It rates 5 for assemblage and is “easy to slot together and it looks great.” We just need IKEA to release the VIKHAMMER in dreamy pastel shades to achieve perfection.
The Flatpack Living Room That’s Not Worth the Effort (And One That Is)
Looks nice, doesn’t it? But is it worth the effort? Unless you’ve completed an apprenticeship in un-flatpacking, the answer is probably: No. This is the toughest IKEA living room ensemble to build, according to buyer reviews. IKEA’s most complex bookcase, cabinet, and sofa each have an Ease of Assembly rating of 3 or lower.
Honestly, the 2.7-rated EKET bookcase isn’t even all that. Not when there’s a modern classic waiting to hold your books – the BILLY, rated 5 for ease. And the LIXHULT cabinet – IKEA’s most assembly-resistant living room piece – is beaten for quality, value, function, and Ease of Assembly by the BESTÅ. The BESTÅ rates 5 for ease and lends itself to multiple IKEA hacks, so you’ll never want to disassemble it again.
In fact, it’s possible to kit out your living room exclusively with furniture pieces rated 5 for Ease of Assembly. The PELLO vs POÄNG debate is a common one, with the chairs very similar in look. And sure, the POÄNG is more durable and built of stronger stuff – but the PELLO costs less and, most importantly, is far easier to assemble than the four-decades-old POÄNG.
IKEA Furniture Assembly is Not Rocket Science, But…
Even robots struggle with it. Still, we humans have several advantages when putting IKEA pieces together. Nimble and adaptive hands are a great help. And we can also apply our own logic to the task by:
- Allowing double the recommended build time to avoid frustration.
- Preparing for the process by making space and setting out tools neatly.
- Checking in with online guides and How-To videos for specific tips.
- Budgeting to hire a pro to do the job if furniture isn’t your strong point.
Great – now that your furniture is up, you can move on to the next challenge. Which, according to IKEA’s latest sustainability drive, is taking it all apart again. How difficult can it be to assemble an axe?
METHODOLOGY
To create these tables, we first scraped the products’ webpages from the IKEA UK website. We split all the items into categories and ranked them by their “Ease of Assembly” rating. The rating is an average based on customer reviews in which those who bought the product rate it on a scale of 1 – 5 (1 being difficult, 5 being easy). In case of a tie, the product with a larger number of ratings was ranked higher. Where ties occurred with the same ease of assembly rating, the item with the most reviews was ranked higher. The data was collected in January 2022.