Ikea Cabinet Dubbed ‘The Divorce Maker’ Due To Its 32-Page Instruction Booklet And 169 Screws


For anyone who shops at Ikea, this story will come as no surprise to those who have battled for hours on end to get items from the store built, long instruction booklets, screws and all.

However, one Ikea product, the formidable “Liatorp” storage unit, which stands at 7-feet tall, has been dubbed “the divorce maker” by one marriage counselor who says the product’s 32-page instruction manual and 169 screws are enough to test even the most solid relationship.

One case in point is 40-year-old Jill Foster, who, along with her husband Robin, bought the Liatorp for their living room, but then battles for hours and hours to get the thing built.

As Jill said to reporters about the day she and Robin built their new Ikea cabinet, “Like any couple, Robin and I have had our ups and downs over 17 years as a couple. The arrival of our children put us to the ultimate test. We agreed that anything said between the bleary hours of midnight and 6 a.m. was inadmissible in the divorce courts. So a piece of furniture wouldn’t break us — would it?”

Nevertheless, the building of the cabinet proved testing to say the least, as Jill and Robin argued.

The counselor who dubbed the item “the divorce maker,” professor of psychology Ramani Durvasula from California State University, explained.

“Some pieces of furniture require two hands, two people, pieces of glass, making drawers. Because it requires so much collaboration, so much co-operation, and there’s a potential that someone could get hurt if this thing comes crashing down, you’d better be on the same page. It’s the ultimate test — if you can put that unit together, you can start planning your 50th wedding anniversary party.”

From Robin’s point of view, the building of the cabinet was a nightmare, as he revealed.

“When the flatpacks arrived, I was secretly anxious, but the male ego soon kicked in. Reassuring my wife, I sent her and our babies to the in-laws, and with a surge of confidence, I set about the job. With the TV unit finally finished after ‘only’ four hours, we’re less than a third of the way through and I am worried that we could still be building this by the time our sixth anniversary arrives in December.”

Unfortunately, having battled for five long hours, Robin had to admit defeat, especially after he read the note in the booklet which read, ‘This is a two-person assembly.'” It was at that point that he summoned his wife back home and asked her to help him build the cabinet.

[Image credit: pintrest.com]

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