Ikea Assembly

Yesterday I went to Ikea. I wanted to replace the table in my living room, the $9.99 Lack series corner table, the one that I ran over with my power wheelchair. While there, I puchased a night stand and small dresser for my spare bedroom. I am trying to get rid of clutter, so the desk and office chair which used to make my life a misery in that space are now gone completely. I have reduced the room to a bed, so I wanted something in there for my guests to use.

I like Ikea furniture. I like the price point, certainly. I am also a fan of their flat pack. The design and packaging efforts intriuge me no end, especially when I look at the item control and the visuality of the assembly instructions. I like to assemble things, as best I can these days. It stimulates my creativity and sense of constructing.

It's not that everything has to be Ikea. My bedroom, for example, is a constructed furniture set which had to be brought in by the company from whence it was purchased. The same with my leather couch and my dining room set. Some pieces are better assembled by the craftsperson, not by the purchaser. Some things are either too ornate or too complex for an ordinary person to put together. On the other hand, there is nothing like an easy, flat packed dresser for having fun with assembly.

Unfortunately these days the whole Ikea thing is getting tougher for me, especially when it comes to weight and assembly requiring some degree of strength. Sometimes you find it in the strangest of places. That Lack table, the one for $9.99, is a standby at Ikea. They probably sell more of that than any other furniture item. I would bet that every college student in the country has at least one. In order to assemble that table, you simply screw the legs on to the base of the table using the double ended thread bolts as provided.

The problem is the repetitive motion involved in threading things on, along with the final muscular effort of that last few threads. The repetitive motion wears my arms down very quickly. Those last couple of twists were almost beyond me. I ended up leaving that silly little table with only two legs attached, there for me to finish this morning. Even after a full night of sleep, the last two legs almost did ne in! The same is true for vaccuuming. After only a few minutes, my arms are so sore and tired I cannot continue. So I left that for today as well.

Fortunately my Home Care Aide for today was all about helping me finish the vaccuuming and making the beds. She even helped a bit with the Ikea table. I'm just not strong enough anymore to finish these things.