Impressive Product Packaging from IKEA

I love the HELMER drawer unit from IKEA.  It’s a sturdy metal unit, about two feet tall, a foot wide, and a foot and a half deep, and it’s perfect for storing and organizing all kinds of stuff.  I have five of them now, three of which are filled with computer, A/V, and electrical parts, and the other two contain various office and household stuff.

One of them is a new addition, and as I assembled it, I was impressed with the packaging and assembly as much as the product itself.  The entire thing assembles with no screws except to attach the handles to the drawers (and for the casters, but I don’t use those).  And check out the packaging compared to the assembled unit:

Before:

After:

The box seems super heavy just because it’s so dense: it’s basically all metal in there, except for about a dozen small styrofoam blocks for cushioning.  Once you open it up, you just take the parts and bend/slide/snap them into place.

IKEA has a reputation in some quarters for making cheap stuff, but HELMER, he’s pretty tough.

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