tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post6144839652516649687..comments2024-03-28T22:15:17.067-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: Do it yourself.Neil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-1918377043193427582021-03-01T18:11:55.742-06:002021-03-01T18:11:55.742-06:00As one who has assembled countless pieces of what ...As one who has assembled countless pieces of what a mover once described to me derisively as "instant furniture," I have always liked the fact that I am the one who actually turns a pile of precisely cut rectangles and a bagful of fasteners into an actual piece of domestic livingware. <br /><br />The factory can mess about with machining the materials and packaging all the bits and pieces and sticking it all into great big phenomenally heavy boxes, but the bottom line is that it does not actually become a bookcase or a desk or a table until I myself go at it and get the job done. I like that. <br /><br />I'm sitting here at a Springfield desk by Sauder that I put together in 1987, along with an assortment of bookcases and such from their same design line. It's not a family heirloom, but a worn workhorse that paid for itself long ago, sometime in the last century. I look at much older pieces in my father's house, many from the 1800s with crudely hand-formed panels and joints, and I wonder how much of what we value in those antiques now was viewed as everyday junk back then.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15875378656423252469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-81833130275920835652021-02-28T17:59:51.960-06:002021-02-28T17:59:51.960-06:00Cleveland still has no IKEA, but we've been to...Cleveland still has no IKEA, but we've been to the outlets in Columbus and Pittsburgh. Best thing about the visits were the cafeterias and the lingonberries. <br /><br />Otherwise, the stuff they sell is mostly crap...the kind of furniture a kid would have in his dorm room. It is not meant for grwon-ups. Some of it appeared to be made of heavy cardboard. But hey, we went to a Cubs-Priates night game at PNC Park afterward, so the trip was worth it.<br /><br />Some years back, we bought the same kind of piece as the one in Mr. S's image, only in dark brown. WE bought it to use as a TV stand. Saw it at a lower-end furniture outlet and it was on the sales floor. I made a deal with one of the managers...I would buy it on the spot and pay extra for it, if they would carry it out to the loading dock and put it into our vehicle. Which they did, in the middle of a blinding snowstorm. <br /><br />We drove it home and dragged into the house and put it in the living room and hooked up all the wires and cables and connections. No muss, no fuss. <br /><br />I'm too old to screw around with unassembled cardboard dreck. Neither do I have the patience. So it either comes into the house already assembled, or it never gets through the door. To hell with DIY.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-27690403495751742852021-02-28T12:16:45.165-06:002021-02-28T12:16:45.165-06:00I bought a sectional sofa from IKEA and was horrif...I bought a sectional sofa from IKEA and was horrified when it came unassembled, in 7 or 8 enormous boxes. They can’t expect me to assemble a damn sofa, I thought. In the end it was doable but a second person to help is absolutely necessary.J. Pabsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11566801024154623288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-21470079884222673032021-02-28T12:15:01.058-06:002021-02-28T12:15:01.058-06:00Before one marries, a couple should attempt to put...Before one marries, a couple should attempt to put together some IKEA furniture. It is the supreme test of future compatibility. If more than twenty swear words are spoken, or citing of the partner’s IQ or educational level, bleeding, or consideration of getting a FOID card, one should reconsider eternal bliss with this person. At the very last, salvation of the relationship by vowing never to buy DYI furniture. That is why Walter E. Smythe stays in business. John Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02712600193130373091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-27846664965764068342021-02-28T11:52:48.542-06:002021-02-28T11:52:48.542-06:00Few of us do Neil. Fortunately I still have the op...Few of us do Neil. Fortunately I still have the opportunity to build a walnut bookcase or 5 every now and then. Occasionally a potential client will contact me and mention they were looking at X on the IKEA web site and ask if I could build something like it cheaper. My standard reply is: cheaper is impossible. For less money? Very unlikely. I costed out building a platform bed like they sell. Couldn't buy the materials for what they charge for the finished item. To quote KV: so it goesFMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06829632906445535928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-69210583076981773432021-02-28T11:03:09.094-06:002021-02-28T11:03:09.094-06:00On this one, I'm with you FME. In my ideal wor...On this one, I'm with you FME. In my ideal world, we wouldn't buy a piece of furniture that wasn't hand-assembled by a cabinetmaker. Our dining room table was custom made of bird's eye maple by a furniture-builder in Maine, with spoon feet and a honey finish that after 30 years is a joy to touch. However, I no longer live in that world, alas.Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-38363430022509841792021-02-28T10:31:58.152-06:002021-02-28T10:31:58.152-06:00Years ago, I bought a breakfront from Scandinavian...Years ago, I bought a breakfront from Scandinavian Design in Chicago and had it shipped to my home in Springfield where it arrived in a carton...unassembled. Like IKEA, the assembly directions were pictures but without words. My feeble brain failed. To assemble, I got someone at SD to talk me through the assembly on the phone...for nearly four hours. Next time I’ll pay for assembly.JJSjrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05666257049870474265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-84990541562519663082021-02-28T09:57:58.693-06:002021-02-28T09:57:58.693-06:00As a furniture builder/ cabinetmaker by training I...As a furniture builder/ cabinetmaker by training I both understand the satisfaction of assembling a piece and resent the passing of a well paying unionized trade that employs so many fewer americans than it once did. <br /><br />The very sound of the name, IKEA makes me throw up a little. <br /><br />I remember the first time I put one together for a client thinking: "junk"<br /><br />The higher end pieces are much better and might survive dissassembly and a move . But most of it won't. <br /><br />Approaching retirement I guess I don't care except my middle boy is taking over the business and competing with robots and near slave labor ain't fun. <br /><br />My dad was a carpenter. <br /><br />I've made a fine living and put 2 boys through college. I hope my son can continue to do work he truly loves and make a decent living. <br /><br />I doubt it. <br /><br />Task rabbit? A whole nother abomination in class warfare . FMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06829632906445535928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-59010767207533998852021-02-28T08:51:00.970-06:002021-02-28T08:51:00.970-06:00Following family tradition, I would help my brothe...Following family tradition, I would help my brother assemble Christmas presents for his children. Our completion stats ran 3 to 1, always in my favor because I read the directions. Doesn't matter if its a $500 IKEA dresser or a $30 Sullivan bookcase, you paid for an instruction sheet, use it. Having it delivered was smart, not offering to buy off their reluctance to finish its' journey was probably a mistake. The weight of a double dresser constructed mostly of particle board is excuse enough to pay for a fully constructed piece to be delivered next Tuesday between Noon and Four PM. I was able to assemble my dresser in short order thanks to the instructions. Thank you Ivar. Had I known he was a Nazi, I'd have made a different choice. The toughest part was moving it to the intended location, where if functioned perfectly, looked good and wasn't hard to part with in the end. JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08613528527379198505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-60878602991403431002021-02-28T07:36:29.065-06:002021-02-28T07:36:29.065-06:00Very nice. The room looks great.
And it was no dou...Very nice. The room looks great.<br />And it was no doubt really satisfying to fist-bump the errant part into submission: very manly-man!Rutthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06458422478819001822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-2500143702051897622021-02-28T05:50:47.275-06:002021-02-28T05:50:47.275-06:00I enjoyed it. I now have information filed away a...I enjoyed it. I now have information filed away about assembling IKEA furniture - and some of its origins. Paul Fedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384556977324071639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-68008297423473986932021-02-28T05:18:12.463-06:002021-02-28T05:18:12.463-06:00Having put together a number of IKEA pieces, I'...Having put together a number of IKEA pieces, I've realized the following:<br />The better you can read, the harder it is to follow those idiotic pictograms. The totally illiterate do fine with them.<br />Occasionally, parts are misdrilled. I've had to redrill them to put it together.<br />Russia is unusual, as most of it is from China or Viet Nam, unless that's changed in the last few years.<br /><br />And Ivar Kamprad [his initials form the first part of IKEA], was an actual Norwegian Nazi. Why he wasn't hanged with Quisling is beyond me?Clark St.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09634234069783123180noreply@blogger.com