Flatpack Jersey to the Rescue

Bed assembly, Furniture assembly, IKEA Assembly, IKEA Jersey
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Or How a Bit of Expertise Saved the Day

IKEA by Flatpack JerseyOkay, it wasn’t quite that exciting, but I received a call on Monday afternoon asking if I could possibly help. A customer had bought an IKEA bed, via Book My Space, which was duly delivered, but was having difficulties with the assembly, depite them having built an identical one before. Continue reading Flatpack Jersey to the Rescue →

It’s Hot Up There!

Shutters and Blinds
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I recently spent a whole day hanging around in an unusually high conservatory roof, fitting  pleated blinds of various shapes and sizes. Since I’d measured for them too, there would have been no one to blame but myself if they hadn’t fitted.

Thankfully, all went well, although it was a long hard day, often working at full stretch and trying not to break anything, including my own neck! Continue reading It’s Hot Up There! →

Two Big Days – and all IKEA

Furniture assembly, IKEA Assembly, IKEA Jersey
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I’ve just completed a job that took two full days – spread over 3 working days and the weekend – that involved building, joining and installing thirteen separate IKEA Pax wardrobes and fitting out with drawers, shelves, rails, etc, all in a home that’s still being finished.

Being on a building site meant no mains power so I was very grateful for my cordless drill on the final half day. A battery screwdriver speeds things up, too, as long as you’re careful, but there’s no substitute for muscle and effort Continue reading Two Big Days – and all IKEA →

Branching Out

Shutters and Blinds
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If you’ve seen me mention shutters and roof blinds from Hillarys Blinds you might have concluded I probably have a vested interest in their success, and you’d be right.

Since the start of the year I’ve added surveying and installing shutters and conservatory roof blinds to my repertoire and a lot of variety to my working week.

Hillarys shutters and the blinds are made to measure, following a detailed survey, with every one uniquely manufactured to fit a specific window or glazing panel, taking into account out-of-square windows, wavy walls and glazing bars, different construction materials and various frame and fitting options.

Most people choose white for their shutters but there are lots of colours and finishes to choose from, including three shades of white, while the fabric choices for your roof blinds are too numerous to count. Opening and closing blinds can be done manually or electrically and plantation shutters are suitable for every room in the house, in a range of configurations, louvre widths, etc.  Most of these decisions will be discussed and decided during your initial appointment and then confirmed or amended as required when I conduct the survey.

Once the shutters or blinds have been produced and delivered to the island I’ll come back and install them.

To find out more and to book an initial call from a Hillarys representative, contact me and I’ll put you in touch.

Plantation Shutters and Conservatory Blinds

News
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Increasingly, as I visit homes around Jersey, I see people moving away from traditional curtains  and off the shelf blinds towards made to measure wood and wood-effect venetians and plantation shutters.

Shutters, particularly, make a big difference to any room, changing its character and adding a touch of made to measure luxury that more and more people are finding fits with their lifestyle and looks good in almost any situation and any building style. In everything from an ultra-modern apartment to a traditional farm cottage, or an art-deco, Georgian or Victorian house (and any other style you care to mention), made-to-measure plantation shutters are completely at home.

Whether you’re seeking shade, privacy or just a new and timeless look, plantation shutters can transform your home or any room within it.

And talking of shade, if you have a conservatory you’ll know how quickly it can become uncomfortably hot on any sunny day from spring to autumn. It’s not always feasible to open a window or door and you might want a little more control than that, maybe shading one part of your conservatory and letting the sunshine into another part. In that case, you might want to consider roof blinds. Pleated roof blinds can be custom-made to fit almost any shape and type of conservatory, can be opened and closed individually, and can be manually operated (either by wand or hand crank) or powered, with a power crank or integral, programmable, remote-controlled motors in each blind.

You can complete the look and add privacy, shade and insulation, with various types of side window blinds, too.big shutter closed

All of these, as well as more traditional blinds and curtains, are now available in Jersey from Hillarys Blinds, the biggest name in blinds in the UK. You can see more  on their website. but contact me directly to arrange a priority appointment with their Jersey advisor.

Is DIY Dying?

Furniture assembly, Shed assembly
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The news this week that B and Q are closing sixty of their stores in the UK has been put down to a combination of factors:

  1. Young people are less skilled or less confident about DIY than their parents
  2. More people live in rented homes than in the recent past, making them less inclined to spend time and money on home improvements

From my own experience I think there’s a third factor at play, which is that more people who are in a position to spend money on home improvements are happier to pay someone else to do the work for them. Whether this is down to bigger disposable incomes or lower real-term costs, all the signs are that increasingly people on middle incomes and higher (and sometimes lower, too) are in a position to pay a professional.

Of course, it’s not just the affordability that matters, but the convenience, too. Busy lives make time saved more valuable than ever, so that paying for someone else’s time makes sense for more and more people. So perhaps we should add shortage of time to those reasons for DIY’s decline.

Certainly, in the flatpack assembly business, the most common reason I hear for booking my services is the time saved. While some customers might struggle with the physical aspect or making sense of the instructions, the net result is that the job would have taken them too long – or more time than they were prepared to devote to it. Far better to pay me or someone like me.

But whatever your reason for paying someone else to build your flat pack furniture, equipment or garden shed, it’s a perfectly valid one. Just make sure you book a professional who knows what he or she is doing. You can contact me using the form on this page or by email, phone or text.

Roy