How to Assemble IKEA Kallax Series Shelves

Hi there. My name is Nils with Learn to DIY. And today I'll be showing you how to assemble the IKEA Kallax shelf units. This assembly process works the same. Whether you have a long shelf system, like this is a one by four, you can do this for the two by twos for the six by sixes or whatever other size you need kind of all works the same. So let's jump right in. Let's open her up. It's always a good idea just to lay out your pieces and do a quick count and then compare that to the count list. That's in the beginning of the instruction manual. You just want to make sure that everything is there. And I've done a lot of IKEA furniture. And I think I've maybe had one experience where they miscounted here and I was short something. So usually they're pretty good. Now, nowadays you actually get this little handle that comes with the Allen wrench that makes life a lot easier. And in this case, it's the number four size. So I can slide that in, pop it like that. And then that becomes a nice little handle for working with things. But you're also going to need, in this case, a flathead or a slotted screwdriver, as well as a Phillips screwdriver. And if you're like me, power tools are your friend and they'll just make things a little bit faster and quicker. So rather than using this guy here, I'm going to use just a power tool here and just make sure to be a little bit careful with this so that you're not over-tightening things, because that can be an issue. If you're not sure about that, then just use hand tools. So we're just going to focus on the six holes that get the studs here. And you don't have to worry about these two extras or those two extras, because again, they're not for the actual assembly of this as much as for fastening them to the wall. So we're going to take one of these, and then it's just a Phillips screwdriver, pop it in, and it should thread in pretty easily. And it kind of self straightens, which is nice. You can go right to there. And then if you're pretty comfortable with the drill, you can use that as well just to speed things up a little bit. And again, what you want to avoid is over-tightening. Okay. With those in place, we're ready to put our drawer dividers in and you want to be cognizant of which way you put these, because if this is standing up, you want to make sure that the holes are on the bottom side here. If it's going to be sideways or horizontal like ours is, then it really doesn't matter which side you put these on. So I'm just going to start to slide all these in. And then with that, we can take our top piece and put it in as well. I'm just going to try to line up that back corner and this one There we go. Now to make this easier, I'm going to lay it on its side. So it's less likely to wobble on us. And from here, we're going to use the little white attachment caps here. And these are pretty easy to use. You just need a slotted or flathead screwdriver to put these in and we're good to go. So all we're going to do is pop one into place. You can see there's an opening on one side like this. So you want to put that opening towards the outside of the thing where the screw is. I'm going to put that in here like, so tighten it clockwise until you feel it grab on like that. If you look closely, you can also see that there is a little arrow right on there. And that's what you need to point at the screw, pop it in, turn it clockwise until it pulls tight here. For example, you can use a power tool to do this, but because this is kind of just a quick small turn, I find it's actually easier just to do these with a screwdriver. Now, one thing to note as I'm doing this, if you're working on a two by two system, for example, or some of the other sizes, they'll actually use dowels to handle a lot of this and they'll actually forego the stud and cap system altogether, which is okay. Just follow the instructions and make sure you've got the right ones based on the hardware kit that you're using. Now for our end pieces here, all you need to do is make sure that the countersunk part or the wider part of the hole is facing the outside of your furniture piece. These smaller holes are meant to go inside along the furniture. And again, you've got a couple of options here. So we're going to drive in these larger screws and you can use the handle with the Allen wrench like this. Just go until it's nice and snug. Until basically what you're looking for is for that to be flush right there. So that's not sticking out or going too far in. Load this in and we're done. A little louder for sure, but so easy. So here's our finished product. I think it comes out really nice. I've decided in this case to add the drawer inserts. These are really easy to put together. They just take about seven and a half minutes per cubby once you get going here and pretty fun to see this put together. And it's just a very versatile piece. Speaking of which I have another video I wanted to share, which kind of talks about why I think the Kallax system is one of the most versatile pieces of furniture that you can buy today. And I've got a video that you can check out right here, showing the different configurations and then some of the different options you have with this shelving unit. I'm Nils with Learn to DIY. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.