This weekend I didn't get done half as much knitting as I would have liked. It has been the Weekend of the Flat Pack. Yes, so much self-assembly furniture as to justify the capitalisation! Let me explain.
My older son is nearly six and, since he was 2 years old, he has been sleeping in this bed.
My older son is nearly six and, since he was 2 years old, he has been sleeping in this bed.
Yes, that is a toddler bed. Yes, it is about 4.5 feet long by about 2.5 feet wide. Yes, I said he's almost six. Really, he's long overdue for a "big boy bed".
His bedroom was desperately in need of remodelling and part of the redecoration was to include the dismantling of a very rickety built-in wardrobe which represented the entire storage facility in that room. We decided to go for bed-and-storage together and get him a mid-sleeper. Not as high as a bunk bed but with plenty of room for cupboard space underneath.
It was delivered in six boxes, two containing the bed itself, one with a desk in it, one with a cube storage unit, yet another containing the storage unit doors and the last with a small shelf that acts as a bedside table.
Now I'm usually pretty good at flat-pack. I can put up a cupboard or a chest of drawers pretty quickly and without fuss, and usually without bits left over, which is always promising. Because of the sheer size of this thing, I roped in my Dad, who is a DIY expert.
We did run into a few obstacles. One of the pieces was supposed to contain two sizes of screws, both the same length, and only half a millimetre apart in width. To the naked eye they all looked the same. In what I thought was an inspired move, I put them through my knitting needle gauge! If it can tell me which is a 4.5mm needle and which a 5mm, it could do the same with screws! Unfortunately, all that proved was that I had 16 identical 4.5mm screws instead of half and half. Oh well, they would just have to do!
After about six hours of sorting End Panel 1 from Side Panel 2, trying to tighten screws with alan keys in spaces that only allowed less than a quarter of a turn at a time (tedious!), and giggling every time the instructions directed me to use an 'eccentric screw C' (no idea why they were deemed eccentric!), it is almost finished.
His bedroom was desperately in need of remodelling and part of the redecoration was to include the dismantling of a very rickety built-in wardrobe which represented the entire storage facility in that room. We decided to go for bed-and-storage together and get him a mid-sleeper. Not as high as a bunk bed but with plenty of room for cupboard space underneath.
It was delivered in six boxes, two containing the bed itself, one with a desk in it, one with a cube storage unit, yet another containing the storage unit doors and the last with a small shelf that acts as a bedside table.
Now I'm usually pretty good at flat-pack. I can put up a cupboard or a chest of drawers pretty quickly and without fuss, and usually without bits left over, which is always promising. Because of the sheer size of this thing, I roped in my Dad, who is a DIY expert.
We did run into a few obstacles. One of the pieces was supposed to contain two sizes of screws, both the same length, and only half a millimetre apart in width. To the naked eye they all looked the same. In what I thought was an inspired move, I put them through my knitting needle gauge! If it can tell me which is a 4.5mm needle and which a 5mm, it could do the same with screws! Unfortunately, all that proved was that I had 16 identical 4.5mm screws instead of half and half. Oh well, they would just have to do!
After about six hours of sorting End Panel 1 from Side Panel 2, trying to tighten screws with alan keys in spaces that only allowed less than a quarter of a turn at a time (tedious!), and giggling every time the instructions directed me to use an 'eccentric screw C' (no idea why they were deemed eccentric!), it is almost finished.
Yes, it looks done, but I did say "almost" for a reason. The bed itself is finished, the cube storage unit is finished (despite Dad managing to put the door on before he put the handle on and then we had to tip the thing up to be able to open the door again!), and the desk is finished. That's quite clever. It pulls out, so he can slide it out to use it, and then it slides back under the bed again out of the way.
No, the only bit not ready yet is the shelf. Those who were paying close attention might remember I mentioned a shelf that acts as a bedside table. Unfortunately, I'm missing a part for that. Well, missing a replacement part. It's quite a basic shelf, a flat surface and two end pieces, but the end pieces are shaped so they need to be the right way around. Sadly, when I came to screw it all together I've got a flat surface and two left-hand ends! I can't finish it as the screw holes have been drilled into the same sides and to try to correct it myself would damage it, so I'm waiting on a replacement coming by post.
No, the only bit not ready yet is the shelf. Those who were paying close attention might remember I mentioned a shelf that acts as a bedside table. Unfortunately, I'm missing a part for that. Well, missing a replacement part. It's quite a basic shelf, a flat surface and two end pieces, but the end pieces are shaped so they need to be the right way around. Sadly, when I came to screw it all together I've got a flat surface and two left-hand ends! I can't finish it as the screw holes have been drilled into the same sides and to try to correct it myself would damage it, so I'm waiting on a replacement coming by post.
In the meantime, I'm going to hang up my screwdriver and my alan key, and get my knitting needles out again! I have a sweater that's been calling my name all weekend and it's about time I paid it some attention.
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