There’s a particular look people give you when they’ve just bought a flat pack wardrobe. It’s somewhere between excitement and quiet dread — like they’ve already imagined the afternoon of squinting at instruction sheets and hunting for the right Allen key. I saw exactly that look on my client’s face when I arrived at her place in Paddington recently. The IKEA box was sitting in the main bedroom, still taped shut, and she was very glad to hand the whole thing over to someone else.
Fair enough, honestly. IKEA furniture looks simple on paper, but a full wardrobe with internal fittings, hanging rails, and drawers is a proper job. Get a panel in the wrong order and you’re pulling the whole thing apart twenty minutes later. I’ve done enough of these to know the shortcuts that aren’t actually shortcuts.
Getting the Wardrobe Right
The wardrobe we were building was for the main bedroom — a good-sized unit that needed to sit flush against the wall and sit level on a floor that, like most older Paddington homes, wasn’t exactly flat. That’s always the first thing to sort. A wardrobe that looks slightly off is going to bother you every single day.
Once the base was level and the sides were up, the rest came together steadily. Internal fittings, the hanging rail, the drawers sliding in clean — all of it done properly so the doors hung straight and closed with that satisfying click rather than swinging open on their own or sagging at one corner.
The finished result looked great in the room. Plenty of storage, clean lines, and exactly where she wanted it. That’s really the goal with this kind of work — not just assembling the thing, but making sure it actually works well in the space.
While I Was There — Front Door Lock
While I was packing up, she mentioned her front door lock had been playing up for a while. It was stiff, occasionally hard to turn, and she’d been putting off dealing with it. These things have a way of getting worse rather than better, and a dodgy lock on your front door isn’t something worth leaving.
I took a look and found the mechanism was worn and not sitting quite right in the strike plate. A quick adjustment and some attention to the lock itself sorted it out. It now turns smoothly and latches properly — the way a front door lock absolutely should.
It’s one of those small jobs that makes a real difference. You don’t notice a door lock working well, but you definitely notice when it doesn’t.
Paddington Homes Have Character (and Quirks)
I do a fair bit of work through Paddington and the surrounding inner-west suburbs. The homes here are full of character — Queenslanders, older brick cottages, renovated workers’ houses — but that character often comes with a few challenges. Floors that have moved over the decades, doors that have shifted in their frames, walls that aren’t quite square. It’s just part of working in older Brisbane homes, and honestly, I enjoy the problem-solving that comes with it.
If you’ve got a flat pack waiting to be built, a lock that’s giving you grief, or a handful of odd jobs stacking up around the house, I’m happy to help. Reach out and we’ll get it sorted.