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Formwell Living Considered everyday things

Self assembly

Flat pack without the swearing: eight habits that help

Nothing here is clever. All of it comes from watching people build the same shelving unit a hundred times.

August 9, 2026 admin 2 min read
Flat pack without the swearing: eight habits that help

We time every product in the range by building it ourselves, first attempt, printed instructions only. Along the way you notice what separates a 61 minute build from a two hour one, and none of it is skill.

1. Build on the carton

It protects the floor, and more importantly it stops the small bags of fittings migrating under the sofa.

2. Count the parts first

Four minutes at the start against a very bad twenty minutes at step nine. Always worth it.

3. Sort the fittings into piles by step

Cam bolts and cam locks look similar and do completely different jobs. Separate them before you start.

4. Finger tight until the frame is square

Cam locks are designed to pull a joint up. If you crank everything down as you go, the frame sets out of true and the last shelf will not drop in.

5. Measure both diagonals

Equal diagonals mean a square frame. This is the single check that decides whether the doors line up.

6. Do not skip the back panel

On a free-standing run it is not decoration — it is what stops the frame racking.

7. Strap it to the wall

Every unit over a metre tall ships with a strap. Fit it. It takes eight minutes.

8. Stop when you are tired

Nothing in the range is time-critical. Half-built furniture keeps overnight perfectly well, and the mistakes all happen in the last twenty minutes.

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