We bought an IKEA desk for our next Life Camp adventure, to replace the folding table that Pnut’s been using as a desk all his life. (Sorry child.)

I realized that building IKEA furniture is pretty much just like putting together an adult sized Lego – instructions with no words, lots of pieces, only difference is that the pieces require a few basic tools to lock in place. We bought the IKEA Alex desk and started building at 11am. Took an hour for lunch.

Laying down furniture assembly

By 1:30pm Trex decided to start laying down to screw in the parts for the tabletop. My mistake for chastising him for screwing one in crooked, he was going painstakingly slowly to ensure they were all going in straight. In order to get him to move a tad faster I gave them a bonus of $10 if they finish by 3:00. With some fraction of the bonus depending how much work was left. Doable? At this rate probably not.

Takeaways

• Don’t rush.
• Work on the carboard so you don’t scratch the furniture.
• Ask for help with what you want instead of complaining that someone isn’t helping.