This Is IKEA’s Most Stressful Product To Assemble, Says One Study

IKEA offers over 9,500 products in its range. For those who get frustrated by assembling the Swedish retailer’s furniture, this is the one item you’ll want to skip.

Hotukdeals.com has put out a study revealing the IKEA product that’s the most stressful to assemble. To come up with the results, the company asked 100 participants to put together IKEA products, all while being hooked up to heart rate monitors.

The item that got people’s heart rates pounding the most? The PAX wardrobe.

For those unfamiliar with the product, PAX is a collection of storage solutions that can be customized. This means that you decide on the styles of frames, doors, and lights, as well as decide on how many drawers, shelves, and pull-outs you want in your closet.

So basically, what’s great about it is that it has many parts that can store your clothes. But what’s not so great is that it has many parts you need to assemble.

“According to our study, the PAX wardrobe is the most scientifically stressful item of flat-pack furniture to assemble, scoring top marks with an overall stress score of 100. DIYers saw an average heart rate increase of 20 percent (13 BPM) when assembling the flagship furnishing, with heart rave variance (HRV) dropping by a quarter (25 percent),” the findings explained.

In addition, only half of the participants were able to fully assemble the PAX wardrobe within the time limit.

Here are the top 10 most frustrating IKEA furniture to assemble, based on the study:

1. PAX wardrobe
2. BRIMNES storage bed
3. HEMNES day-bed frame with three drawers
4. BESTA TV bench
5. BESTA storage combination
6. EKET cabinet
7. HEMNES chest of eight drawers
8. NORDLI bed frame
9. NIKKEBY chest of four drawers
10. TRULSTORP coffee table

In contrast, the IKEA item that was the easiest to put together was the KALLAX storage system, posting the study’s only 100 percent completion rate and a stress score of just nine.

“A household staple with a simple shape, the KALLAX unit can be assembled without the need for tools, by simply slotting together with wooden dowels — resulting in plain sailing for our subjects…” the researches said, adding: “… the KALLAX was also the fastest item assembled, with an average assembly time of just 16 minutes.”

You can read the full research over at Hotukdeals.com.