New study reveals IKEA’s most stressful items to assemble from ranges including BRIMNES, HEMNES and PAX

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IKEA are great for furniture bargains, but not always for our stress levels - here are the Swedish retailer’s most stressful flatpacks

IKEA is a staple for many households, offering great prices on a range of furniture pieces. Also renowned for its tasty hot dogs, they almost make the  heated conversations that will inevitably come while constructing your flatpack purchases worthwhile .

A new study from hotukdeals found 8 out of 10 people say they’ve had an argument with their partner while assembling furniture. So with that in mind, in January 2023, the company conducted the  Flat-Pack Stress Index.

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The study tasked 100 people with assembling 20 of the most popular IKEA products - all while having their stress levels measured across a range of physiological factors in a controlled environment.

Vix Leyton, Consumer expert at hotukdeals said: "Flatpack furniture is renowned to try every element of your patience and, if you’re working as a team, it is a unique test of how much you really like each other, but there is no satisfaction quite like putting in that final piece.”

During the study, people were put into teams of two and fitted with heart monitors to measure both their heart rate (lower is better) and heart rate variance (higher is better). Under supervision, they were then tasked with assembling IKEA items under a time limit based on the average difficulty rating of each item.

Explaining the results, a spokesperson for hotukdeals said: “We combined our stressors along with the completion rate for each piece of furniture to create an overall stress score out of 100 -  the higher the score, the higher the overall stress level.”

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So, what are the other most stressful items to assemble from IKEA? Here’s the full breakdown.

Most stressful IKEA items to assemble

The PAX wardrobe took the top spot for being the most scientifically stressful item of flat-pack furniture to assemble, scoring top marks with an overall stress score of 100. The study found that 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%). Only half of the participants were able to complete the piece within the time limit set, the lowest completion rate of any item.

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Here’s the top ten most stressful items to assemble including their stress index score out of 100:

  • PAX Wardrobe - 100
  • BRIMNES Storage bed - 87
  • HEMNES Day bed frame with three drawers - 86
  • BESTÅ TV bench - 80
  • BESTÅ Storage combination - 78
  • EKET Cabinet - 77
  • HEMNES Chest of 8 drawers - 71 
  • NORDLI Bed frame - 70
  • NIKKEBY Chest of 4 drawers - 67
  • TRULSTORP Coffee table - 65
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