From moving into your first home to refurnishing your current one, nothing in our homes quite tests our patience like flat-pack furniture.
Reportedly created by Gillis Lundgren in 1956, flat-pack not only solves the problem of moving bulky furniture and providing cost effective decorating solutions, but also acts as a way of pushing our relationships with our partners, friends and family to the limit.
One of the all-time great Swedish exports, alongside ABBA, meatballs and PewDiePie, what’s not to love about flat-pack? Items of furniture frustratingly assembled by someone who doesn’t actually know how to make furniture, aided by nothing other than drawings which only vaguely resemble the item in question.
Why are there usually bits left over? Why do we find assembly instructions so confusing? No one knows. However, we can’t seem to get enough of wallet-friendly, flat-pack furnishings. Despite how wonky the end result might be.
But what most of us agree on, is that assembling flat-pack furniture can be one of the most stressful but rewarding things when it comes to your home interior.
In fact, in 2011 researchers Harvard, Yale and Duke Universities all published studies on the so-called “IKEA effect” which found that we value items we’ve assembled ourselves more than other, and how assembling IKEA furniture can lead to increased happiness and satisfaction.
That’s why hotukdeals has launched the Flat-Pack Stress Index, a scientific study to uncover which flat-pack items can be the most complicated (or svårt), stressful and rewarding to assemble.
The Flat-Pack Stress Index
In our study, 100 people were tasked with assembling 20 popular flat-pack items from the world’s most famous flat-pack producer, IKEA. Based on a range of physiological factors, we looked at which were the most stressful to build.
Each person in our study was fitted with a heart rate monitor and put into teams of two. Under supervision, they were then asked to complete the assembly of various items of furniture.
In each case, teams were given a time limit given to assemble each piece based on the average difficulty rating of each item.
Once all the stats were collected, we combined our stressors along with the completion rate for each piece of furniture to create an overall stress score out of 100. In this study, the higher the score, the higher the overall stress level.
How hotukdeals measures stress
Contrary to popular belief, there’s no direct medical way to measure ‘stress’ in the body (sorry mood rings). Instead, doctors and scientists use a combination of the body’s physical responses to determine an overall stress level.
In this study, we looked at 2 main factors as indicators of stress:
Heart Rate (BPM):
- Heart rate, measured in ‘beats per minute’ is a commonly monitored part of the body and a good indicator of stress or exertion.
- Stress can provoke an increase in heart rate, as we send more blood and oxygen around our body as part of our ‘fight or flight’ response.
- In our heart rate test, a lower BPM is ‘better’ and means the subject was under less stress.
Heart Rate Variance (HRV):
- While most people know what BPM stands for, what you might not know is that your heart doesn’t beat in a perfectly timed rhythm.
- Instead, each beat has a slight variance between them, which is measured in milliseconds and called heart rate variance.
- Generally speaking, the more stressed you are, the lower the variance between your heartbeats becomes. That means, generally, the more fit or relaxed you are, the higher your HRV is.
- In our HRV test, a higher score (measures in m/s) is better.
Completion rate:
- For our study, we also factored in whether the team was able to complete the assembly to a level, within the time allocated.
This captured how challenging the item was to an amateur, and how likely it was for someone to ‘give up’ on assembly. - As some items were naturally more difficult than others, all items had a separate time limit. This was based on IKEA’s own build difficulty rating (based on customer reviews) and the number of pieces that needed to be assembled.
- In our completion rate test, a higher completion score means more people finished the assembly of the item.
What are the hardest IKEA items to put together?
In our study, we looked at 20 items of furniture chosen based on their popularity, difficulty rating and availability.
In total, we compared 8 storage systems, 4 beds, 4 drawers and sideboards, 2 wardrobes, and 4 tables or desks, among other items.
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% (13 BPM) when assembling the flagship furnishing, with heart rate variance (HRV) dropping by a quarter (25%)
Just half of our participants were able to complete the piece within the time limit set, the lowest completion rate of any item.
Behind the wardrobe were the BRIMNES storage bed and HEMNES day-bed posting near-identical results with heart rate rises of 18% and HRV drops of 24% respectively.
Our research found that the KALLAX storage system was the easiest to put together, posting the study’s only 100% completion rate and stress score of just 9.
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.
In addition to recording the highest completion rate and lowest stress score, the KALLAX was also the fastest item assembled, with an average assembly time of just 16 minutes.
I lycka, I lycka a lot
Along with finding the most scientifically frustrating pieces IKEA furniture to assemble, our study also set out to investigate the IKEA effect further.
After each successful assembly, we asked our participants to rate how happy or lyka they were once they had completed the task, to see if the difficulty of the item had any impact on the sense of accomplishment they felt for.
While you might think, the harder the task, the more satisfaction for completing it, our study found it was the items in the middle of the pack that produced the most sense of accomplishment.
According to participants the IKEA pieces that gave to highest satisfaction to complete were the NORDLI bed frame (stress rating of 70), NIKKEBY chest of 4 drawers (67), TRULSTORP coffee table (65) and the SONGESAND bed frame (65), all of which scored 9 out of 10 in satisfaction rating.
On the other end of the table least satisfying to assemble the KALLAX storage, PAX Wardrobe and HEMNES day-bed, all of which scored just 4 out of 10 in satisfaction, according to the participants.
Funnily, our results seemed to align with the Swedish term of ‘lagom’ which means ‘just the right amount’, and is a mindset based on happiness through moderation and things being the right balance rather than ‘more is better’. In our case, the furniture that presented just enough of a challenge being the most rewarding.
Whether you’re a flat-pack ace or just searching for your own lagom, our latest IKEA deals and discounts can help you get more for less when it comes to decorating your home.
Fancy taking on our flat-pack challenge yourself? Why not track your own heart rate while putting your furniture together, with current deals on Fitbit, Apple, and other smartwatches, and let us know on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages where you can find lots more daily deals.
Methodology
In November 2022, hotukdeals invited 100 participants (aged between 18 – 60) to assemble flat-pack furniture in groups of two.
A total of 30 items were chosen based on ease of assembly scores given in a study of reviews, along with maintaining a variety of different types of furniture.
During the assembly process, participants were fitted with monitors to track the variances in their heart rate (BPM) and heart rate variance (HRV) designed to indicate their stress and exertion levels while completing the task. Subjects were also given a designated time limit, based on the complexity of the item to work towards.
hotukdeals took the aggregated anonymised data, assigning each data point a weighting to create an overall stress score (out of 100).