IKEA Furniture is great. It’s quick to buy, easy to transport and works in almost every home! The only thing that isn’t the best about IKEA furniture, is the fact that it’s a nightmare to assemble, and doesn’t last very long.
The good thing is that it doesn’t have to be like that. Both of these things are connected. There are certain things you can do at the time of assembly that can help make the furniture last much longer!
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Best Assembly Tips To Make Your IKEA Furniture Last Longer
Following these simple tips, you’ll be able to make your IKEA furniture last much longer!
Make sure you’re following the instructions
One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming that they can figure out how to assemble IKEA furniture as they go along the process. The thing about IKEA or any flat pack furniture is that it’s not as “logical” in assembly as regular furniture might be. There are steps you need to follow, and everything needs to be done in the correct order to make sure that it’s as properly assembled as possible. This way you won’t miss any steps and the furniture will be as sturdy as possible!
Add wood glue
Even though following the instructions properly will ensure that the furniture ends up being sturdy, you can add reinforcements by adding wood glue wherever two pieces of wood come together. This and the screws will work together to ensure that the pieces won’t just come apart over time, which tends to happen a lot with the smaller, lighter pieces.
Replace the screws with longer ones
A great thing about IKEA furniture is that you get all the tools and screws in the package. However, the screws aren’t the “best” ones, they only get the job done. A great way of ensuring that your pieces aren’t going to fall apart is by replacing the screws your furniture came with, with ones that are at least 1/8th of an inch longer. If you’re working with solid wood pieces, you could go for even longer screws here. The longer the screw, the more secure your furniture assembly will be!
Use steel braces
One of the biggest drawbacks with big or heavy IKEA furniture pieces is that they almost never come with braces. This means that something like a giant PAX wardrobe is just going to be leaning against your wall on it’s own and the slightest bit of wrong movement could make it topple over! As a general rule of thumb, ensure that all of the furniture pieces that you have, which are either really tall, or really heavy, have metal braces holding the structure together. Then, take braces to secure them to the wall too. This will ensure that once you place the furniture where it needs to go, it’s going to stay there, secured in place!
Get it right the first time
One of the easiest ways to ruin the longevity of IKEA furniture is by taking it apart during assembly multiple times. If you aren’t sure of the instructions, or just haven’t assembled a lot of IKEA furniture in your life, this is something you might end up doing. It’s an easy one to get stuck doing as well, considering almost all of the pieces you’re working with will look the same and will have the same “side up”, but it’s important that you get it right the first time. If you don’t think you can do that on your own, you can get help from a Handyman NYC, or a handyman in your local area, to assemble the furniture for you! They’ll know exactly how to put it together properly and will have all the things we’ve mentioned in the other tips, so your furniture is super secure and ready to be used for a long time!
