Six life lessons from assembling my first IKEA Bissa

UNEXPECTED LEARNING

I am turning 46 in less than a month, I figured I could give it a try and assemble my first IKEA masterpiece, here is what I have learned in the process.

Life does not come with a manual, most IKEA furniture does. Read it and use it. Amen. At one point, you will murmur it is not rocket science and toss the manual, thinking you can hack your way through without directions, to then find yourself hours later digging into the rubbish bin.

Don’t let your ego silent or reject the help you are offered.

There is a sacred order in the way instructions are compiled, it is not random, each step builds on the previous one, creating symmetry and stability. There will be times — like in real life — when you will think you can outsmart the manual and fast-forward, to then —unlike real-life — go back three hours later to the pages you skipped because they looked so ridiculously obvious.

When building anything, not investing enough time in learning and understanding normally results in endless fixing. Freestyle at your own risk.

IKEA furniture looks sturdy but is made of a very soft paste of recycled wood, any minor hit damages the surfaces irremediably. When assembling, slide the pieces over a blanket or something that would cushion any unwanted pressure.

Be aware of appearances, go gentle, often overconfidence is where insecurities and fears lay, including yours, go gentle.

The manual comes with a list of tools recommended for assembling the shoe cabinet. You can do it without them, but it is easier with them. How do I know? I used some tools for the bike and a tweezer.

Sometimes, you have to make do with what you have.

Tighten your screws organically, tightening each one just a little bit, then moving to the next, and around again. Tightening the screws in a balanced way across the different surfaces allows you to adjust to possible imperfections, and really take advantage of the flexibility of the pieces.

Don't invest all your energies into one spot, balance your efforts across all the areas that need your attention.

Though our ego will complain, if anything comes with instructions, bring your palms close to the center of your chest, and say thank you. Once you have read and understood them, you do not have to follow them verbatim, take what you need and forget the rest. The same applies to advice.

Recognizing the intention and the effort someone puts into helping you, has never hurt anyone.

Dear IKEA,

I tried my best, my shoes are now enjoying my new BISSA, yet I must confess I followed neither your recommendations, nor mine, and I am left with one unused stubborn screw, who just would not listen :-).

I don’t know what it is, possibly something hard-wired in my brain, but I just can not read instructions, as soon as my brain figures out that it is reading instructions of any kind, it starts to mentally fold the laundry. Still, I went through the manual several times and I appreciated all the effort you put into it.

Thank you.

Cristina

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