Most of the furniture you buy is flat-packed and designed for you to make at home. It’s cheaper than buying pre-made stuff (and easier to get in the house), but you always run into a few DIY roadblocks along the way.
Well, no more! The following things will help you become a DIY master by building any piece of flat-packed furniture with consummate ease.
A Small Drill
Have you ever bought a bed or any piece of furniture and found it contains what looks like a thousand screws? A slight exaggeration, perhaps, but you get the point. It results in you mindlessly screwing things in for over an hour, which results in the following:
- This small DIY project consumes your whole day
- Blisters and sores develop on your hands
Avoid both problems with a small cordless drill that’ll do most of the work for you. It lets you easily insert every screw without ripping the skin from your hands – or driving you insane. Honestly, this is a must-have tool for anyone who buys flat-packed furniture or does any DIY projects. You’ll use it once and then never go back to manually screwing things in, unless you’re forced to.
Lots Of Replacement Screws
This isn’t a legitimate stat (it’s impossible to find a real one), but it definitely feels like over 70% of flat-packed furniture projects come with missing screws. Or, at least one screw that doesn’t seem to go in properly and just turns and turns.
In fairness, companies like Ikea will let you go in and find any replacement screws for free. However, this can take a bit of time, particularly if your nearest store is still quite far away. It’s far more convenient if you have a replacement screw set to call upon. Find one from any hardware store and pick a set with as many different screws as possible. There’s bound to be at least one in the set that replaces whatever screw is either missing or broken.
A Set Of Allen Keys
Flat-packed furniture designers love Allen screws. They’re used multiple times in almost everything you buy – and they can be both a relief and a pain in the backside. Allen screws are great when you’re given a nice Allen key, and the screws are in easy-to-reach places. You simply pop the key in and twirl away; it’s easier than using a screwdriver.
Allen screws are terrible when you’re given a bad Allen key that doesn’t fit where you need it to. You end up doing that annoying thing where you turn it a quarter of the way, pull it out, and turn it again. That’s why you need a set of Allen keys to make everything easier. You can find one that fits the screw and comes with a more ergonomic handle.
It’s also worth getting some Allen key drill bits for your drill, though you may struggle to fit it in tight corners – which is where most Allen screws are placed to secure joints.
A Pair Of Work Gloves
Do you wear any gloves when doing DIY work like this? Most of you will say no, which is crazy when you think about how sore your hands get after putting everything together. Yes, a drill will help with this, but there will still be parts of the build that require manual screwing and gripping. It takes a toll on your hands and leaves them with blisters that take ages to clear up – and make everyday tasks more painful.
Get yourself a good pair of work gloves so you can grip and grab things without damaging your skin. They’re useful for all sorts of DIY flat-packed furniture projects, and you can even use them when renovating your home to avoid wood blisters, paint contact, etc.
Objects To Prop Things Up
How many times have you been building a piece of furniture, only for it to demand that you balance one piece in the air? It’s extremely common and usually ends with you piling books on top of one another to try and keep the piece straight.
Well, now you can prepare for this by purchasing things that prop other things up. That’s a very vague sentence, but we’re talking about blocks or small stools for you to lay planks of wood on while keeping them straight. It makes the fiddly parts of flat-packed furniture much simpler to deal with.
You’re now ready to build anything without running into the typical roadblocks. Hell, it might be possible to build things that say you need two people all by yourself! It’s a lot easier when you have the right tools and equipment by your side.