I finally decided to assemble that chair I bought at IKEA back in August. There have been a few stresses since bringing it home and I just ignored the box. Trust me, even a box of this size can be ignored if you simply don't want to assemble a chair.
Step one was to clear that table in the living room of the project I've been working on since May.
Step two was to empty the box of its contents and put them on the table where I could find them. Yes, Pilchard had to approve the parts. Once emptied, this box was certain to be purr-fectly cat size.
Next, find the instructions.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, IKEA furniture is pretty much idiot-proof. There are no words, which saves them from having to print instructions in 11 different languages.
It's all drawings and the drawings are very self-explanatory. I probably could have figured it out on my own, but I might as well look at the drawings to make assembly go faster.
Find the wheels and shove them into the bottom. This proved to be a tricky proposition. They wouldn't go in at first. There's no way tacking them with a hammer would work, either. Eventually, I discovered they had to go in at a slight angle and then they fit perfectly.
When that is done, turn the wheels over and put the lifter thingee into the center hole.
Now we're ready to deal with the seat.
Flip the seat bottom over to put the lifter handle onto the seat bottom. Oh look!
I remember those tags. That's the ever so confusing "Do I remove or don't I remove" tag that
was required, by law, to be attached to pillows, sofa, mattresses, etc, in the 1960's. It seems unscrupulous retailers would resell used furniture and bedding as new. So this tag was required on all furniture and bedding to prove to the consumer the piece was new. I remember not quite understanding it. Do I remove this or will armed men come and arrest me? It may seem clear to you that only the consumer can remove the tag, but, in talking with friends, they too found the wording just a wee bit confusing. Now, of course, we laugh.
Using the handy Allen wrench provided, (Thank you Allen. I should really have one of your wrenches in my tool box.) start tightening the bolts that hold this assembly to the bottom of the seat. Make sure the cat approves of your work. In this case, because I'm being ignored, Pilchard approves.
Because I am not paying enough attention to you, make sure you lie down on the instructions.
As you are quite a large cat with lots of lovely black fur in need of brushing, you will, quite handily, obscure any drawing in the instructions. Move? You must be joking. When forcibly removed from the table, go check out this new box that has shown up on the floor.
Hmmm, this has potential.
One you have put the lifting mechanism onto the bottom of the chair, attach the back to the bottom. This is done in the same fashion as the lifter mechanism, with screws and the Allen wrench.
At this point, there was a noise coming from the box. Pilchard had decided this was, in fact a great place to play. So, I tossed in a couple of mice and she chased them around the box.
Once the chair back was attached to the seat, it
was time to assemble the chair.
If I had not stopped to take photos, it would have taken me maybe 45 minutes to put this together. Here is the finished chair in my office.
It is easy to raise to get to the proper height for my feet to be flat on the floor for correct back support and posture. The seat back is adjustable forward or backward that I am sitting up straight. I like the angle of the seat back as it is currently assembled so I'm not likely to change that.
Besides providing a cat toy and the ease of assembly, the other thing I like about IKEA furniture is that all packaging material is recyclable. I had one strip of tape that I couldn't recycle but everything else, and there wasn't a lot, went into the recycling can. I very much like that.
So, there you have it, dear reader. I assembled this all by myself. It's a great chair and will make my sitting at the computer much easier on my back and feet.
Beverage: Dr. Pepper
Deb
