I went into the purchase of my first PAX system from Ikea completely oblivious. I was just so excited to be getting extra space for my clothes, I didn’t think of how much work it would be to put it together.
The project started with breakfast at Ikea. Naturally we arrived at 8:25, so we could wait in the cold outside with all the other breakfast-crazies. Then it was important our breakfast was finished by 9 so we could be first in to visit the PAX lady. She was great. We came back three times to make adjustments and then we were off, frantically collecting massive, heavy bits of wood and an assortment of components, and three trolleys later we had it loaded into the truck and were on our way home.
While hubby returned the truck to Ikea, my father-in-law and I started on the first assembly. Now if you can imagine the normal way this might go, now add the fact that we can only partially communicate in German. There was a lot of back and forth, a lot of head scratching, a lot of doubt. The damn wardrobe was so tall that it had to be put together standing up, adding even more complications. When my husband returned, we’d barely managed to put the shell of one together, albeit without any major catastrophes. Only four to go. He took over – and instead of the two hours we’d estimated there went the rest of Saturday, all of Sunday and a few night’s after work.
But damn those things are amazing: how they all just go together and how everything just fits perfectly. I couldn’t be happier with my PAX system but I certainly don’t want to put another one together anytime soon.
an aussie in austria 