Estimate how long it will take ... double it ... and then add fifty percent

My wife and I started assembling our IKEA flat-pack cupboards yesterday, and we thought that we would be finished before going to bed last night.

We were wrong.

We managed to get the two largest cupboards assembled and installed by mid-afternoon, but the three-draw unit proved to be somewhat more complex to put together than expected ... and by the time we went to bed last night we had finished assembling the draw unit and its draws (but without their handles), installed it, and fixed the worktop in place.

So far this morning I have added the handles to the draws, assembled a small cupboard unit, and fixed the load-bearing battens that will support three of the small cupboards in place. I am now having a short break ... and then I will start work on assembling the next small cupboard.

With luck I will have all the cupboard carcasses in place by mid-afternoon ... and then all I will have to do is to fix the doors and shelves in place. I might just finish before I go to bed tonight ... but I suspect that the work may well extend into Saturday.