Fall in Love with Your Own Creations to Boost Value

Imagine you drive past a furniture showroom and admire a sleek new bookshelf. You window-shop, but it feels like someone else’s creation. Now contrast that with a dusty box of parts at home—pieces of wood, labels, screws, and an instruction sheet. You sort the components in neat piles, following each diagram patiently. By the time you tighten the last bolt and step back, the world’s ugliest bookshelf suddenly feels perfect. That clunky structure is yours in every way. When you put your books on it, you smile because its every screw came from your hands.

Psychologists call this the IKEA effect: we overvalue the objects into which we’ve poured labor. Studies show that people bid far more for origami they assembled themselves, even when it looks worse than experts’ work. This attachment comes from mental ownership. In making something with our own hands, we literally imprint our identity onto it, and the result becomes more precious than the same item offered ready-made.

Crucially, this effect holds whether you’re building a chair or crafting a financial model: any project where you invest effort can inspire higher valuations, deeper engagement, and more satisfaction. Recognizing the IKEA effect helps you choose tasks and roles where your personal effort boosts your sense of accomplishment—and your appreciation of the results.

Pick a project that sparks curiosity, sort every piece in order, and follow the step-by-step instructions carefully. Photograph or note each milestone and share your journey with someone else—you’ll find that the object itself carries new meaning and value once it’s truly yours.