Ikea: a flatpack too far for couples?

Photo: JPellGen

When was the last time you had a happy joint trip to IKEA? According to one psychologist, the stereotypical assumption is true: the Swedish furniture store is a common source of arguments among couples.

Ramani Durvasula, a clinical psychologist in Santa Monica, says that lots of couples have mentioned fighting while shopping at IKEA. It may come as no surprise to those who have witnessed the fall-out between the Flaxig and the Falkhojden, or those have experienced the aggression by the Arvika first-hand.

Indeed, the land of domestic perfection promises all kinds of afforadable fairy tale futures for the couples who enter its yellow and blue doors, but what starts out as an exciting glimpse of a happy home can turn into a tour through potential domestic disagreements: Who would do the dishes in the kitchen? Who would look after the kids?

"The store literally becomes a map of a relationship nightmare," Durvasula tells the Wall Street Journal. And that is before couples have made it out the other side and have to assemble their Askvolls and Algots.

In fact, Durvasula has now started to use the store's flatpack objects as a relationship exercise: couples are tasked with building a large piece of furniture and asked to report back on their progress.

Buzzfeed recently gave the flatpack furtniture test its own airing, asking one couple who had just met to assemble the same item as a couple who had been together for 10 years.

The pair who had been together longer were more in sync with each other, completing the job in a much faster time. For those who are not compatible, though, in couples where the man does not look at the instructions or the woman examines them thoroughly, there can often be a spanner in the works. Literally.

The bigger the object, the tougher the strain placed on a relationship, suggests the psychologist. A coffee table? That might prove a healthy obstacle to overcome. A large wall unit called the Liatorp, on the other hand, has been dubbed the Divorcemaker.

"Two people are needed to assemble this furniture," says the IKEA listing for the 288cm-wide storage unit.

Now that sounds like a challenge.