The following article is arranged in a random order, you have to assemble it yourself! We’re just joking – but even the thought of having to assemble something can induce feelings of fear and worry. Enter the world of flatpack furniture.
If you’ve put together a piece of flatpack furniture with a partner, then we bet you’ve quarelled with that partner about assembling it. Phrases like “these instructions are wrong”; “there’s a missing piece”; and “it looks nothing like that in the picture!” get thrown about and can cause arguments in an already tense situation.
Online furniture retailer, The Furniture Market, put relationships to the test by challenging three couples to the 30 minutes “DIY stress test” – which highlighted what couples endure when building flat pack furniture together. Our reaction? – been there, said that.
With this is mind, here are 5 ideal ways to stay sane and avoid flatpack furniture arguments with your partner.
EAT SOMETHING FIRST
Have you ever snapped angrily at someone when you were hungry? Avoid becoming hangry (yes it’s a real thing) by eating something before you begin assembling the furniture – working on an empty stomach could lead to disaster.
MAKE SPACE
This sounds like a no brainer but make sure you give yourself lots of room to move. Clear as much space as possible. It’s so much easier to lay all the pieces out in a big space then stacking them all up . Also move any clutter out of the way, there’s nothing worse than losing a small screw under some furniture or in a pile of stuff.
SORT ALL THE PIECES OUT AND READ THE INSTRUCTIONS
Before you do anything read the instructions. Familiarise yourself with the order of assemblage and what the arrows and numbers mean. Also, divide up all the screws, bolts and pieces of furniture before you start into relevant piles – lots of pieces can look the same so organising everything before hand will help you to avoid making mistakes like joining the wrong parts together or using the wrong screw.
DON’T WORK TO A TIGHT DEADLINE
Research into flatpack furniture and relationships found that many couples underestimated the time that it took to build the furniture, this added to the frustration which led to conflicts. Don’t make this mistake, give yourself plenty of time to assemble the furniture and take a breather if you need it – there’s always tomorrow.
BUY PRE-ASSEMBLED FURNITURE
The last thing people want to be doing during their spare time is building furniture which might cause conflict or result in unnecessary arguments with their partner. The answer? Don’t buy flatpack furniture at all. You can get reasonably price, high quality, pre-assembled furniture from places like The Furniture Market to help you steer clear of flatpack arguments.