Sorry, this is a bit of a rant…

I had to assemble an IKEA flatpack cabinet today.

I always find this process painful because, to me, the instructions are always lacking (and a lot of other flatpack kits have followed IKEA’s trend of picture-only guides). How hard is it to put a name below each component on the parts page (so I know what this weird thing is when it appears on page 22!), or indicate what’s the top/front/back/etc.?

Today it would have been really helpful to know which edge was the top and front for the sides of this kit, rather than flipping back-and-forth through the manual to work it out. The irony is that they got so close to realising this was a factor, since the instructions did actually have two procedures (depending on whether your ceiling was high enough to stand the cabinet up after assembly or whether you needed to assemble it in-situ).

Is it just me and does everyone else just find it easy to follow the instructions, or do a lot of other people struggle with them too?

  • lifeinlarkhall@lemmy.world
    2·
    8 days ago

    I struggle - rarely get from IKEA but with any kind of picture instructions I can really struggle! I think I need picture and written instructions - or video!

    I always have to get my dad to help me, I always try because I want to be able to do it myself and right now! But 95% of the time I end up just getting dysregulated after trying for hours and call my dad and having to wait until he can have time to come over 😭

    Some instructions are a bit better than others - some are awful and even dad ends up putting something in backwards and having to take it apart to put it back together lol.

    But success - a few weeks ago I put my little 1 drawer bedside table together table independently! It took me a few hours over 3 days whereas I’m sure it would take most people like an hour or so but I was proud to get it done. Of course I put the railings in wrong the first time so had to disassemble and reassemble 🤦‍♀️

    It’s frustrating because I actually enjoy some Lego and model kits (like the DIY book books) when the instructions make sense. I enjoy formulaic instructions but I don’t have the… like foresight? Like some people can know why they’re attaching the piece a certain way for later in the assembly but I can’t see that so I am often building without understanding the bigger picture - if that makes sense!