I Take It ALL Back

Just a few days ago I was blissfully in love with all my finds at IKEA. I had NO IDEA what was in store. My hands are killing me, my knees are sore from kneeling on the floor, and my manicure is shot to hell.

So far, I've put the chair, the desk, and some file folder box things together. Two days ago I started on "Alex" the set of drawers on casters that has a tremendous amount of storage space for someone like me who has an unhealthy obsession with office supplies.

This is what the end result is supposed to look like.

I managed to get the shell of this damn thing together. Then I started assembling the drawers and I reached a breaking point. THE PIECES DON'T FIT LIKE THEY SHOULD!!! The holes don't line up for the screws. And I swear, I need, like, a third arm with two hands in order to hold the drawer together so I can hammer in the screws. Can you hear my frustration and outrage coming through your computer?!?

Apparently my cat can't figure this thing out, either.

I am not a quitter. But I wrestled with this thing for about two hours too long and finally threw down my hammer and called a handyman.

Throughout all this, I kept wondering, should I have purchased these items from a "regular" furniture store? Did I really get such a good deal at IKEA? The pieces are ridiculously inexpensive and cute, but is it worth the time and effort? I'm seriously doubting it at this point.

2/01/09 UPDATE: After the handyman arrived today to finish putting everything together, we discovered that one of the boxes for the bookcase was labeled correctly but contained the WRONG pieces!!! I had to make a trip back to IKEA again to do an exchange. And then once we got the new box open, the holes were not big enough for the screws and he had to drill into the piece. I WILL NEVER BUY FURNITURE THERE EVER AGAIN! {Whew, OK, that made me feel better.}