Furniture Builder (Not So) Extraordinaire

In an effort to class up my office, I decided to replace the chipped up metal file cabinet which has very few files in it. Its main job is to keep the printer off the floor and I figured a more stylish piece of furniture could accomplish that task just as easily. After checking around at a few stores, I ended up at Target, like I always do. I love that place. They carry everything I didn’t realize I needed.

The cabinet in progress

The cabinet in progress

Now, I’ve put other furniture together, my friends. That is to say…step back – I know what I’m doing. I would have been done in an hour except for the back piece. Everything else was pre-drilled for my convenience, but not the back. The back needed twenty-four screws and do you know how many holes were pre-drilled? Two – just to help line it up evenly. I was working with a plain old screw driver, guys. By the time I got those twenty-four screws in, my arms were falling off, but, by God, my cabinet was ready to go.

Mommy's big helper

Mommy’s big helper

Just gotta put these shelves in…hmm…what’s up with these shelves? The holes for the shelf holders on each side didn’t match up. As is, the shelves could only go in crooked – by a lot. It was then that I realized that the two center walls were not, in fact, interchangeable, even though they were both labeled “5.”

Um, hello…don’t put a “5” on two different things if they’re not interchangeable. That’s Furniture Assembly Direction Writing 101. Admittedly, I also didn’t catch that in the picture there were three holes on one side and five on the other. So sue me. Honestly, this cabinet should be happy I even looked at the directions.

Anyway, in order to rectify, the top had to come back off, which meant that six of the non-pre-drilled-hole screws had to come back out. I was still in good humor – handling it, if you will – until then. Then, I was pissed.

Problem solver/stress reliever

Problem solver/stress reliever

I took a deep breath, got in the car, drove to Lowe’s with music blaring, bought myself a cool rechargeable screwdriver and came back home. By then I had restored my calm.

 

 

 

The printer holder - finished for real this time

The printer holder – finished for real this time

I partially unbuilt and rebuilt my cabinet and voila! New cabinet, new tool, new lease on life!

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