“Have assembled a NEXT corner tv unit, all looks fine, drawers fit onto runners, but wont shut fully. Have spent hours taking drawers out and putting in again. “

Hi Sharon,

The most likely cause of this is that you have screwed the runners onto the unit using the wrong holes. On most runners there are a lot more holes than you will need and it can be difficult to tell which ones to use.

If none of the drawers shut, then you have probably made the same mistake on all of them.

Also it might be that they shut easily on one side and not the other. Try pushing the front of the drawer on both sides, if you get less resistance on one side this runner is probably in the correct place and will give you an idea of what to do.

On some units there is a sucker punch and this is that you need to use different holes on different runners. So you can’t always use the same ones.

I would have a closer look at the instructions as well.

I hope the above can be of assistance.

Edwin.

I have been assembling these doors for several years now and the first time I did it I thought it would be quite intimidating to do. I hate working with glass and the the overall process is quite tricky. Furthermore the instructions are not that easy to follow and the first time I did it part of me thought have I done this right? So I scoured the instructions over and over again to ensure I had, looking at every part of the Ikea instructions. The nice think about Ikea instructions is that usually every piece of information you need is there, just presented in an international non-language specific diagrammatical way!

So far I have written the following sets of instructions on Ikea Pax wardrobes:-

• How to build an Ikea wardrobe standing up.
• How to rectify a collapsed Ikea wardrobe
• How to build the Ikea Pax Sliding Doors

All instructions are available at:-

Ikea Help

Whether it is a bunk bed or loft bed, it is important to heed the warnings on the instructions. If you do not attach the slats properly to the upper bunk your child can suffer serious injury. The following two things have been identified:-

1. The slats must all be fastened down on the top or raised bunk. On a normal bed the slats are often strung together and fastened down at six anchor point. If the slats fall through the bed you only have 12 inches to fall so no issue. If you are on the top bunk, such a fall could cause a serious injury, especially considering the way the slats might move and trap an unlucky child.
2. Slat must be placed right up to the head and foot boards on the upper bunk. Again an unlucky child could slip and get trapped in a seriously uncomfortable or fatal position.

This is an incredibly contemporary and stylish bed from Dwell. I built one this morning and it looks fabulous.

The instructions for assembly leave a lot to be desired though. The main idea is that you build the bed base and build the head board and then slot the two pieces together. Nothing wrong with that you may think but there is. Due to its weight you need two people to lift the head board and probably a third person to line up the bolts and dowels, which need to come together at a handy 45 degree angle. Now bearing in mind there are three bolts and three dowels on each side, even if you were to attempt this it would be fraught,  since I doubt both sides would line up nicely and you would need a decent amount of lateral force as well as downward force to bring the two pieces together.

In my opinion the correct way to build this is using my standard “let gravity do the work for you” approach and build it in a logical manner piece by piece. This was the first one I had seen and it took my 90 minutes but I think second time around I could build it in about an hour on my own, yes on my own.

I’ll be writing some instructions on how to do this with photos and so on which will be available soon at Dwell Furniture Help.

The bed however is beautiful, the finish is glossy, expensive and ultra-glamorous.

One activity which is well worth while is visiting Flatpack Assemblers to get some Voucher Codes. All you need to is

1. Select an assembler’s area by postcode at the top of the page.
2. On the next page enter your email in the box at the top.

You will be emailed a link to a list of retailers including:-

High Street Names: B&Q, Barker & Stonehouse, British Home Stores, Debenhams, Dreams, Focus DIY, Habitat, John Lewis, Laura Ashley, Marks & Spencers

Popular Internet Retailers: Bedstar, Furniture 123, Furniture Village, Garden Bargains, Nabru, Oak Furniture Land, Oak Furniture Solutions, Pinesolutions, Space2, Super Tramp, Sleeping Solutions

Offers cannot usually be used on sale items and are time limited, but can save you 5-10% off your next  furniture purchase!

In many cases people want a wardrobe to fit into a small space. In such cases most people will pick sliding door wardrobes, since hinged doors can obscure the space. One thing often overlooked when purchasing a wardrobe is how it can be built?

This wardrobe from Furniture 123 is an ideal example:-

Blithe 3 door wardrobe in dark walnut

Most hinged flatpack wardrobes are designed to be built lying down whilst most sliding door flatpack wardrobes are designed to be built standing up. Sliding door wardrobes will also tend to have the back panel fit into a groove rather than be nailed on, again to help assembly in a tight space. This is the general rule however there are two notable exceptions:

IKEA Wardrobes - All Ikea wardrobes should be built lying down and then standing. They can be built standing up but you will need either two people, a self made jig or a lot of skill and experience. With the Holborn range Ikea often provide a small square of hardboard which can be used, but this is not provided with the standard PAX range. Another point with Ikea’s wardrobes is that you have to nail on the back panels. This means if you do built them standing up, you need space and then need to push them back against the wall. This is not too difficult if you are experienced, but considering their weight and space, it could be too taxing for some in a small space.

Dwell - most of these wardrobes have a rather complex construction and are generally best constructed on their sides. This means they are often unsuitable for assembling standing up in a tight space.

I was tootling around on the Internet today and I came across the correct term for these. Apparently they are Ottoman beds, or the Ottoman style. You know the sort of thing that pivots at one end near the head board and allows you to lift the bed at the foot and tore stuff underneath. This is a good example from Bed Star :-

These beds are fairly straightforward to put together. The main difficult comes when attaching the bed frame to the mattress slats as the gas struts are generally very stiff and you are always anxious not to damage them. Ideally two people are needed, one to hold up the slats whilst the other attaches the gas strut.

There are always more than one way to crack and egg so here is what I do when building them on my own and have sufficient space. Once I have built the bed and attached or positioned the frame, I lift the bed up at one side and rest it on its side. This will then allow me to position the slatted part so that I can easily attach the gas struts. You can then return the bed to its natural position. In order to apply sufficient pressure to condense the gas struts I always try to put the mattress on first. Mattresses are heavy and this is why the struts are so strong.

In order to complete my technique correctly you need to be:-

• Strong enough to easily lift the bed
• Careful enough not to damage walls and other furniture.
• Double checked that you have build the bed so far properly
• Have had a good think about what good happen if it starts to slip!

They are good beds though!

This happened to me yesterday and struck me as possibly one of the most bizzare things that has happened to me in seven years of building furniture in peoples homes.

I arrived to assemble a
Carlene triple mirrored wardrobe in lugano cherry as shown below:-

This is an absolutely beautiful wardrobe and a delight to put together.

Anyhow I arrived at the address, did the usual hello’s and where you want the wardrobe to go. All the general chit chat that accompanies arriving in someone’s home and building rapport. So I was stood in the bedroom and about to start and the customer said to me.

“I was working last night and only got in an hour ago. I am going to sleep while you work.”

Nothing too unusual I thought and then he promptly got into the bed in the same room and fell asleep. Needless to say I was astonished. I simply got on with the job (what else could I do?) and and a couple of hours later woke him up and got paid.

Most people in business are constantly looking at new ways of getting new customers, we all have tried and trusted methods which bring some in, but we always need new business. One approach often touted is that it is easier to get business out of your existing customers than it is to get new ones. Referrals are the main way of doing this, but how hard is it to get genuine referrals? We had a good think about this and have done our best to remove the barriers to getting them.

5,000 Regular Scratch Cards from £419

So what have we done? We’ve been using promotional scratch cards to improve the marketing of our business. We have designed a range with four different prizes or offers. The basic idea is, that we hand them out to customers to pass to their friends and colleagues who might be interested in our services. Each card has a space where we write their reference number so we know who handed out the card. We give our existing customer a 10% fee for introducing a new customer and the new customer has the fun of scratching off the panel to reveal an enticing offer. We use the following four offers:

£150 off a Zencart website

20% off a 6 page website

50% off a Drupal CMS on your website

Free Website Marketing Audit

- see edwin-cooke.co.uk for more details and our other offers

On our website we list all four offers and the option to trade one offer for another. This way it doesn’t matter what the potential client has won, they can choose whichever offer appeals most to them. This is a great way to gain referrals since it’s a win win for everyone involved.

We also use the scratch cards as business cards. Although they cost a bit more than standard business cards, they do not cost much more and they are a much more interesting way to pass on your details and increase business.

Edwin-Cooke Website Offers

If you have got a scratch card please scroll down to find full details of the offers available.

Not got the offer you wanted? – Not to worry, you can swap offers, just so long as you have the scratch card with you when you order, you can choose whichever offer suits you best.

Please note you must state you wish to use a scratch card offer when enquiring about engaging our services.

£150 off a Zencart website

This is a simple discount on the price of a standard Zencart website. As is usual with our payment structure we split the payment into three equal amounts and hence you get 3 x £50 discounts, one for each payment.

20% off a 6 page website

A six page website usually costs £600, but with this discount you can have one for as little as £480.

50% off a Drupal CMS on your website

We normally charge £250 to add Drupal CMS to our websites. With this discount offer we will add this to your website for £125. Please note this offer is only guaranteed for websites we have delivered. Some sites developed by other companies may not be suitable for Drupal.

Free Website Marketing Audit

The free version of the audit is less in depth, but still provides a useful snapshot of where your website is in relation to competitors and what you can do to improve its visibility through a variety of common techniques. This document normally costs £100 to prepare.

The more you prepare the luckier you get.

Our full audit goes into much further detail and covers everything you need to know about marketing your website, from the suitability of a domain, the keywords required to how competitive the market is you wish to operate in. This document can make the difference between setting up a successful website and setting up a website that when you come to market it, you realise if only we had done or considered this! This document normally costs £600 to prepare but with a scratch card referral we will prepare for half price £300.

Harvey’s have announced that they are pulling out of Bedroom furniture to concentrate on lounge and dining furniture. This is a real shame because the sliderobe wardrobes they sold from Rauch were great value for money and provided excellent storage space.

Harvey’s are having a clearance sale and if you are lucky enough to get your hands on one you’ll need to assemble it!

I have written a set of instructions on my Flat Pack Advice website available here

However if you want someone to build it for you, check out my website for further details of a local assembler. Just so you know:

• London: call Brendan Clinton on 07971 949 424
• Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria and West Yorks: Edwin Cooke - 07929 975 809
• North Wales, Chester, Liverpool & The Wirral: Nik Griffiths - 07737 934 639