Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Some Assembly Required

A while back, the mother and I found this awesome little curio cabinet at Big Lots. It would be a perfect item for the new restaurant and was a real steal at just $30.

It came though at a terrific cost to my sanity: There were at least 20 pieces but NO INSTRUCTIONS!!! I went to Big Lots but they were no help. They opened the only other box with the item they had in stock and didn't find any directions there either. They more or less shrugged their shoulders, gave me the manufacturer name and pretty much brushed me off. (And this was my local store's "furniture manager." They'll be hearing from me at a higher level in the future. Yet another case of stellar customer service -- NOT!)

In the meantime, there I was with all these pieces and hardware strewn over my bedroom floor. I really didn't relish the thought of boxing them all up again, though I came close to doing this more than once, taking them all to the store and demanding the assembled display model.

I'm outrageously stubborn and determined and I've put together more than my share of my stuff, so I wasn't so easily deterred. Patience, persistence and a string of obscenities ultimately resulted in this.

It took over three hourse and I think I only made one major gaffe in the order of assembly. (That cost me an hour at least.) The mother stained a corbel to match and add a shelf-like effect underneath so I think the end result is kick-ass. Good thing for you, Big Lots.

5 comments:

happileah said...

I can't believe you put it together without directions~Although it was frustrating, I bet it felt good in the end!

karen said...

You are right it is Kick Ass. Great job!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow! How brave you were to even ATTEMPT to assemble that without directions! Of course, from my experience, some directions aren't worth the paper they're written on!

Anyway, you did a lovely job. Bravo you!

Vicki said...

I cry whenever I buy a piece of assembly required furniture, because, inevitably there's a screw missing or two left sides or I punch a whole through the oh so thick fiberboard backing... Glad you were able to figure it out!

NV said...

Leah -- It sure did! I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it.

Karen -- Thanks! It will be so cool once it and the corbel are up.

Star -- Thanks. Not sure if it was more bravery or stupidity. I think we know how I don't like being faced with CAN'T.

Vicki -- For the most part, I've been pretty lucky on that count. On the few occasions where something was missing, I had an extra tucked away somewhere.