5 Easy IKEA Assembly Tips

After spending 3 weekends in a row putting several pieces of IKEA furniture together for my new apartment, I found a few easy ways to make the whole building process a little easier. Check out some quick IKEA assembly tips, after the jump.

1. Buy an electric screw driver with replaceable bits. Skip the included tools IKEA gives you with your furniture—the small tools require you to use a lot of force, putting strain on your fingers. Simply purchasing an inexpensive electric screw driver with interchangeable bits can be a huge help. It’s better to use these over a heavy duty drill because the low power won’t damage the easily chipable particleboard. It’s also a great tool to have when you’re looking to securely mount your new furniture to the wall.

2. Use a large rubber mallet instead of a hammer. There are tons of IKEA furniture that use wood dowels to link two pieces of wood together. They usually need a good pound and using a metal hammer can damage the premade holes in the particleboard, making the wood dowels less secure. Using a large rubber mallet will help spread the force out more evenly and keep the wood pieces tight together. Make sure to get a white mallet so that you don’t leave skid marks.

3. Separate and count your pieces. Before jumping right into assembling your furniture, it’s a good idea to take a moment to separate each screw and wood dowel. Since IKEA instructions are purely visual, separating and counting all those little pieces will allow you to make sure you’re putting the right sized screw/dowel in the right place.

4. Customize before you put together. If you’re someone who enjoys adding your own personal touch to things, before your start putting your furniture together you might want to take a step back and consider what you might want to customize. Maybe you want to add a hole to a new media center for cable management or paint the backboard of a book shelf. Customizing your furniture before assembly is the perfect time to add these touches since each piece is already separated, so you won’t have to worry about things like taping or accidentally getting paint on other pieces. I bought a plain white IKEA bathroom vanity and before I put it together, I painted the backboard to add a pop of color before I nailed it into the other pieces.

5. Prep, plan and clear your space. This tip is pretty obvious, but it’s definitely important to make sure you have plenty of room to assemble everything. When building large furniture, you don’t always know what direction the furniture will grow. Making sure you have enough space to spread out will save you from being forced to work in an awkward position the more you start assembling your pieces. And be sure you can even fit the furnishings in your home; there are various IKEA based sites and apps that can tackle the process of design before you spend a single cent.

Know some other quick IKEA tips? Let us know below in the comments!

Comments (15)

If you have a lot of the same kind of pieces (a few chairs, a set of drawers), do it assembly line style. Do the same step to each thing over and over, you'll find it goes much faster, u don't forget what goes where, and you remember the assembly better.

i have built an entire office of ikea furniture, plus items for my home, so a few comments from me.

even if you have a power powerful screwdriver you can dial down it's resistance so that it won't damage anything.

i don't use a rubber mallet and just use a hammer, but i use a stubby hammer, it is only about 8" tall and can get into tight spots.

if you are building on hardwood floors get some knee pads for yourself and if you don't have a rug use the box from a larger item spread out to make a floor covering.

I always take a picture (usually with my cellphone) of the completed item at ikea so that I know exactly what it's supposed to look like when it's done.

If you don't want to get a rubber mallet to only use it once or twice, you can also tightly wrap a fuzzy rag a few times around a regular hammer and secure it with a rubber band or duct tape. Instant soft hammer!

The most important thing is to KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS. When moving into my school apartment I bought a lot of Ikea furniture to make it on my budget, and I actually ended up having to go back to the store three times for missing pieces. Their quality control isn't exactly as good these days, and they give you more of a run around if you don't have your receipt.

I have several pieces of Ikea furniture and I as I assemble it, I reinforce all joints, dowels, etc with wood glue. On my outdoor pieces, I add brass corner supports on the inside of all the legs (available from the local hardware store). It definitely adds to the longevity of the furniture.

And make sure that the wardrobe you bought for your bedroom and that you are assembling in your living room can then be transported around a few corners through your narrow hallway... :-}

(and no, it didn't fit... )

I find that often, IKEA's decisions about how adjustable shelves should be doesn't match my needs.

Trick I learned a while back is to tape a piece of paper or cardstock over the existing shelf holes, and punch about five in a row to make a template.

Then I can line up two or three in existing holes (use the shelf pegs as a support) and drill new holes where I need them, and everything will be even and the same in all four corners.

the best way is to buy used Ikea furniture from Craigslist so you don't have to assemble them yourself. lol

We've been happy with all the furniture we've bought from Ikea except the dining room chairs. We got 2 different styles, but they both feel very flimsy and people are hesitant when they sit on them. In the future, I will not be purchasing dining chairs from them.

Separating and counting the pieces really does help, especially if you organize them in an ice tray.

I use the included allan key- but I wrap an elastic around the handle a few times for grip (slippery little buggers). also, instead of the mallet, I use a thin cushion and a hammer... works great and theres less hardware or tools kickin around my small place.

In our house the best tip is: only one assembler per piece of furniture. We argue like nuts if we are trying to "help" each other, but do fine if we go it alone. So now I save my IKEA sprees for weekends when the hubby is out of town. :)

I recently put together a wardrobe and just about went nuts trying to get the main frame square (even with a carpenter's square ruler thingy).

As it turned out, the long side pieces bowed a little, thus making it seem that corners were out of square. Once the back piece was applied, that gave me the chance to push the sides in toward each other a tad, thus squaring up the corners. Had I realized this, it would have saved a ton of time and frustration!

Pre drilling cabinet doors and drawers for handles before assembly does saves time... IF... you have them right side up before you drill. :-\

keep a record of the instructions in case you lose any parts if moving home. I managed to lose some parts but I found a good website called www.missingscrew.co.uk it sells ikea compatible cam locks cam dowels and wooden dowels. it even has the ikea part no's it such as cam lock 113434 and cam dowel 112996 :-)