Small, single-box pieces — a side table, a basic bookshelf, a simple chair — are usually quick enough to assemble yourself. Large wardrobes, PAX-style closet systems, bed frames, kitchen cabinetry and anything with a long list of parts and several drawers or doors are where hiring makes the most sense, both for the time it saves and for getting the piece properly anchored to the wall. Anchoring matters for tall or top-heavy furniture no matter who assembles it.
Some IKEA furniture is built for a fast, single-person build:
These are reasonable DIY projects if you have basic tools (a screwdriver or the included hex key, and somewhere flat to work) and an hour or so to spare. There's no anchoring concern with most of these, since they're too low or too light to tip.
Larger and more complex pieces add up in ways that aren't obvious from the box:
| Piece | Why it takes longer | Worth hiring? |
|---|---|---|
| PAX wardrobe systems | Many panels, doors, interior fittings, and precise leveling against the wall | Usually yes |
| Large bookcases and shelving units | Long panels are awkward for one person to hold square while fastening | Often yes |
| Bed frames, especially with storage drawers | More hardware, more steps, and getting the frame square matters for how it holds together | Sometimes |
| Kitchen cabinetry (base and wall units) | Multiple boxes, precise alignment between units, doors and drawer fronts to fit afterward | Usually yes |
| Desks with drawer units or cable management | More parts than a basic table, and alignment affects how drawers slide | Sometimes |
Two things push a job from "doable alone" to "worth hiring": the number of separate parts, and whether the piece needs to be held steady, square or level by more than one set of hands while it's being put together. A wardrobe with interior drawers and sliding doors, or a run of kitchen cabinets, is a different scale of job than a single bookshelf.
Booking multiple pieces on the same visit — say, a bedroom's worth of furniture, or several kitchen cabinets — is often where hiring pays off most, since the setup and cleanup happen once rather than for every box.
No — anchoring is separate from assembly, and it applies whether you build the piece yourself or hire someone to do it. A federal safety standard covers dressers and other clothing-storage furniture manufactured after September 1, 2023: it requires those pieces to pass stability tests and to include a warning about tip-over dangers and an anchoring kit. But that standard binds the manufacturer, not the person putting the furniture together, and it covers dressers specifically — not bookcases, wardrobes or TVs.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is more direct about what to actually do: anchor dressers and clothing-storage furniture — including pieces that already meet the new standard — as well as other furniture with doors, drawers and shelves, plus TVs and appliances. In other words, even a brand-new dresser that meets the current standard should still be anchored to the wall.
Sources: 16 CFR part 1261 / ASTM F2057-23, effective September 1, 2023 and CPSC's Anchor It! campaign, as of September 2026.
If a piece came with its own anchor kit, use it. Otherwise, a basic anchor kit typically includes a metal or thick-plastic bracket and a heavy nylon or braided-steel strap, usually installed in pairs for larger pieces.
Do it the day the furniture arrives, rather than putting it off. If you're renting, check your lease before drilling into any wall.
A few shortcuts during assembly can leave an otherwise sturdy piece less stable than it's designed to be:
None of these are hard to avoid, but they're easy to miss when a build has dozens of steps and you're working alone.
If a TV is going on top of a dresser, media console or similar piece rather than being wall-mounted, it should be anchored to that furniture (or the furniture to the wall) the same way. Wall-mounting the TV directly is another option CPSC points to for avoiding a TV tip-over altogether.
The same logic applies beyond furniture. A single-box item with a short instruction sheet is usually a fine DIY project; something with a long parts list, like a piece of home gym or fitness equipment, is a better candidate for hiring out. Book assembly services for anything outside furniture that comes flat-packed with a lot of parts.
For anything larger than a single quick piece — or for several pieces at once — book furniture assembly with an independent local Pro, and ask for tall or top-heavy pieces to be anchored to the wall as part of the same visit.
Last updated September 2026.
No. Anchoring is a separate step from assembly, and it matters regardless of who put the piece together. Ask whoever assembles a dresser, wardrobe or bookcase to use the anchor kit if one came in the box, and to anchor other tall or top-heavy pieces too.
Usually not on its own. A single small bookshelf or side table is one of the quicker builds and a reasonable one to do yourself if you have basic tools and an hour. It's large or multi-part pieces, and several pieces at once, where hiring makes more sense.
They cut down on tool use, but they don't shorten a wardrobe or kitchen system's part count or the time it takes to get panels square and doors aligned. A tool-free fastener still needs to be seated correctly to hold weight.
Check IKEA's own return policy before you build anything you're not sure about, since assembled furniture is typically harder or impossible to return. This guide covers assembly and anchoring, not returns.