1. I constructed my first piece of flat-pack furniture. On Friday I bought my eldest son a flat-pack desk with hutch and shelves. He has a tiny bedroom and needed a desk with storage for his schoolbooks.
The desk came with detailed instructions using miniscule drawings. There were a few flaws, such as missing screws and holes that hadn't been drilled where they were meant to be, but that's a fact-of life with flat-packed furniture. Right?
I was determined to build the desk before my husband got home from work. It took about 5 hours, but I finally did it. I made lots of mistakes, like screwing the drawer runners in upside down, but finally I worked out where everything was meant to go. The desk even looked like the one in the shop.
Unfortunately, I couldn't screw all the screws tight enough using a manual screwdriver and I ended up with several nasty blisters on my hands.
So, on Saturday:
2. I bought my first powertool. I bought a lovely powerdrill with screwdriver bits and used it to finish off the desk. It made the job so much easier, but then, it cost more than the desk. I wish I had had a drill in the first place.
So here I am. A woman with a drill. Pretty powerful, huh?
Have you done anything recently that you have never done before?
13 comments:
Have to admit that I've never understood why people say assembling flat pack furniture is hard. I've always found it easy. Never had a problem with missing parts either, hope you complained about that & got replacements. Somewhere I have a picture of my 3 year putting together a flat pack cabinet, she was great with the allen key.
My new experience recently has been making tofu from scratch. Not something I ever thought I'd be able to do & I'm quite impressed with myself for producing it.
Way to go!! You will never hear a man say he bought a "lovely" power drill!
I have put together some furniture pieces. The most recent was an adirondak chair someone gave me!
You go girl...you are just a bundle of energy lately!
smile
;-)
Kimmie
mama to 7
one homemade and 6 adopted
There's this guy called Sven The Ikea Man. It's his job, at the end of the assembly line, to add a whole bunch of useless widgets that have nothing to do with the item in question, into the box prior to shipment.
Or, if he's feeling particularly evil, he takes a few widgets away, so the consumer will be minus that last metal gizmo needed to hold his/her flat packed whatever together without falling apart.
Sven is the third highest income earner in the whole of Ikea. Next to Anders Dahlvig, and Anders Dahlvig's mother-in-law.
The fact that you have managed to put a piece of flat packed furniture together, and it has stayed together puts you up in the genius level for IQs.
This is no urban legend. It is all entirely true.
There's no stopping you now that you have the drill!
I have never had much luck w/ the flat pack furniture. My husband can whip things together in no time - I joke that is the reason I married him. :)
I haven't really tried much new this summer unfortunately. Maybe when school starts I'll have the time...
I have nominated you for the Sister hood award. You can pick it up at http://cockatoodreaming.blogspot.com/2009/07/sisterhood-award.html
I have found the quickest way to get a handyman job done around here is to walk around with a power drill in my hand. The males of the family are quick to enquire as to what I 'm doing and jump in and do the job for me. Sometimes I just do it myself.
Lynda
Good on you, I think everywoman should have a drill and maybe a few other things in their tool box. I own a furniture shop so I'm always building, mending, fixing, restoring funiture. When it comes to flat packs there is always something missing or broken especially if it comes from china, I'm sure they make their money by putting one screw less in the box :)
xoxoxo
I am convinced that Anders Dahlvig hates the institution of marriage; the Geek and I always argue when putting Ikea things together!
New thing: went to our public library, after a hiatus of several months because we'd lost a book! It was returned today along with the rest. And... I'm a librarian.
Does buying red lipstick count? I mean - truly ripsnorting red? "tomato red" actually. I've always had hushed pink tones but I lashed out.
Kate - thanks for the message. The computer died. There was a big school hiccup. My work got crazy. We went on holidays. Did I mention the bit about me getting lazy? Anyway, the computer is back. The school hiccup is sorted. Work is finished and holiday is over. There's just the lazy part to deal with.
I salute your power tool purchase.
Lisa x
Congrats on your new skill set. I must say the thought of winter is so appealing as we are in the midst of a heatwave. W. Washington rarely sees 90 degrees and we are in 100's these days. As for a recent "new thing" I just completed my first triathlon. It was fun and something I thought I would NEVER be able to do :0)
Chookie - I think you're right.
Anders Dahlvig hates my marriage.
The number of times I've fought with my own Geek while assembling flat pack Ikea furniture borders on insane.
Kate, you are so adorable and funny! I totally was cracking up at how #1 led to #2! Ed doesn't let me use tools. Not even a hammer. He sees me eyeing up a wall and says, "Wait, let me just do it for you." There was this incident once in the old house with an old wall, me, a hammer, and an unfortunate hole...
Hmmm, something new lately? I switched to Truvia (stevia plant) sweetener instead of sugar in coffee. That has to count, right? LOL!
Have a lovely weekend, friend!
A woman with a drill is very impressive! A woman who can put together flatpack furniture by herself is a legend! A woman who can pick up the flatpack furniture in its box, wheel it out to the trailer and haul it home herself is A.MAZ.ING. I certainly can't do it, and have gone home empty handed from Ikea many a time, because I can't lift any of the boxes! Wendy xx
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