Lets start this post off with a show of hands, who loves assembling furniture? No, I said RAISE your hands if you love putting together furniture. What......nobody enjoys it? I thought some would consider it a mix between adult Lego's and a 1000 piece puzzle. But I guess not everybody is up for a challenge these days. I guess if you're a lawyer, doctor, or any kind of white collar executive that makes a minimum of a $100.00 per hour and wants the cool, modern furniture, it wouldn't be good math for you to spend 12 hours trying to assemble that entertainment center when you could get a professional company for $150.00 to do it and guarantee the work. Now that I think about even the people not making a hundred dollars an hour are working so many hours each week the little time they have off they need to handle all the necessities such as shopping, paying bills, and most importantly spending time with their family. Well, no matter where you live there is a professional assembly service that can help you find a professional to assemble whatever it is you need assembled. The network I am referring to is the National Association of Professional Assemblers & Installers and can be found at www.assemble4you.com. Once there you can click on find a professional and it will pull up every state and all you have to do is click on yours and in most cases you will have several to choose from. Now remember, if you live in New York City or surrounding areas make sure you contact us at www.ezfurnitureassembly.com. Mention The blog and we'll take an additional 10% off!
Christopher Purnell
EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations,llc
Showing posts with label furniture assembly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label furniture assembly. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations is New York city's #1 Assembly Service
EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations, LLC has become New York City's #1 professional furniture, gym, & recreational equipment assembly & installation service. They also provide professional kitchen cabinet design, assembly, and installation among a plethora of other handyman services. The company is fully licensed & insured & has a team of 11 field technicians with a minimum of five years experience that will come to your home or office to complete the assembly or installations. All the technicians are required to participate in at least two forms of continued education that is directly related to the services they provide. They pride themselves on quality workmanship and the ability to schedule most projects within 72 hours compared to the bigger companies that take weeks from the time of purchase and hire their assemblers over the phone or email.
We take great pride in the work we do, and the technicians we have on our team. Every technician prior to employment must attend a two part interview process where they meet the president and the project manager and are asked questions about themselves, where they see themselves in five years, and what skills do they have to offer. If the candidate passes this initial interview he or she will be called back for a second interview where they will be given several hands on tasks to preform from assembling computer desks to cutting counters. Christopher Purnell, the President of EZ Furniture Assembly and Interior Innovations, LLC believes that this is what separates the weeds from the flowers. " We want our technicians to be able to preform as good as they speak". Purnell said " it really amazes me how these big companies are still in business with the way they hire people over the phone not knowing what they can and cannot do, never mind a background check. had one prospective canidate who worked for Impact Resources for 3 years and seemed to have learned a great deal working there but when we conducted his background check we found that he had 14 convictions for burglary & theft. This is not the kind of people we want working in our customers homes because they trust us and I will take whatever measure possible to ensure that trust is not compromised" If they pass both interviews and a background check they will work with either the Project manager or Lead technician for a minimum of two weeks to see what their actual skill level is.
Purnell went on to tell us how he started the company and what made it the sucess it is today. " When I started this company I had no more than a handful of tools, a shoebox of past due bills, and a passion to succeed. It was like going to school, every piece I assembled I learned something new and ways to assemble the products faster without cutting corners like many companies do. I actually enjoyed taking a box full of wood pieces and a bag of screws and transform it into a beautiful piece of furniture. I would never accept payment from a customer until the project was complete, and that is still how we operate today. I would like to one day have the big accounts that I see others have, but until then I will continue to assemble our list of satisfied customers one project at a time" Well, it is obvious that his company has came a long way from when he started. Our research found that his company is ranked #1 on Google & Yahoo, has an "A" rating on Ikea Fans, and was awarded the "2007 Superior Service Award" by Angie's List in which only a mere 5% off all the companies listed nationally are even considered for this award.
If you have ever assembled, or better yet, attempted to assemble Ikea furniture or something similar i am sure you can appreciate that there is a company available that will do the assemble for you to a showroom finish. Our research indicates that most professional companies like EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations, LLC that are licensed and insured charge anywhere from 30-33% of the retail cost of the piece for assembly. Which in reality isn't bad considering studies have shown that it takes a mechanically inclined person 6-8 longer to assemble a piece of furniture compared to a professional assembly technician. If you are in the New York city area you can visit EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations at www.ezfurnitureassembly.com, or call them directly at (718) 541-9863.
Written by:
Michael Mancinni
NYC Media INC
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Furniture Assembly isn't Expensive, it's Priceless!
Once again we have received several disturbing calls from people who hired someone to assemble their furniture or have their kitchen cabinets installed only to have them damaged, broken, or incorrectly assembled or installed.
I can't for the life of me understand why people go to Ikea, Crate & Barrel, or spend thousands of dollars on kitchen cabinetry only to have it assembled or installed by the person who quotes them the lowest price. Then they call us which ends up costing them more because they already paid some schmuck to do the job, now they have to pay us to come back in and try and fix their mistakes. With furniture it can be a simple fix or at least a minimum cost, but kitchen cabinets are another ballgame. I have seen so called expert installer utterly destroy thousands of dollars of cabinetry by not doing something as simple as mounting the cabinets to studs. I will never forget this one lady who contacted us last November to have us assemble and install about 10 base and 15 wall cabinets from a high end stock semi-stock cabinet company. We quoted her a price that was fair and competitive considering the work that was involved because the wall that seperated the kitchen from the living room was not well built and had studs every 4-5 feet so we would have to take down the sheetrock and reframe the wall and while we were in there we suggested that we run a support brace between each suds for the cabinets to screw into which would act as extra support, and since we were already opening the wall it would only be a hundred or two difference in cost. I felt she would understand the idea and reason for the added support since she made it a point in every email and at least a dozen times during our intial meeting how she would be storing her great Grandmothers fine bone china that was a perfect set and valued at $35,000.00. Which she even went as far as to insure it against theft, fire, etc.
Well, to make a long story short, she informed me very nicely that another company had provided a quote that more than half less than what we estimated. We never consider a person's financial status when calculating the estimate, unless the person has special circumstances such as a single mother trying to make it, or a family who has been through some sort of bad times. However, if the person is well off, great for them! We post our rates on our website to let people know that everyone pays the same. My point being is that this person was well to do and could had afforded to have any cabinets installed by anyone but choose to go with the lowest bidder. The minute I read the email red flags started popping up and I knew what the end result would be. She explained that she really wanted our company to do the work, but wanted us to match the other bidder's quote. I wrote her back and immediately and thanked her for her offer, but there was no way that we could do that amount of work for such a low price. I told her that she should really think this out because if someone submits such a low price compared to three or four other companies who are in the same range, it is normally a sign that the person is new to the business, will do a poor job because they can't afford to do a quality job at that price, or both. Professional companies have operating costs like insurance, rent, license fees, etc, plus quality technicians don't work for peanuts. Nevertheless, I didn't hear back from her until Thanksgiving.
I will never forget this call as long as I live. It was early afternoon and I had traveled to Pennsylvania to be with family for the holiday and my phone began to ring frantically. My daughter said " Daddy, don't answer the phone it's a howeyday and you don't work on howeydays" She was right so I looked at the number and didn't recognize the number so we went about our day, but the phone just continued to ring and ring and ring. Now I was getting upset because this person had called over 30 times in a half hour. then I got worried maybe a friend or coworker was involved in a accident so i decided to call the number back. Before i could even dial the number the phone was ringing again so I answered it and it was the lady who had the kitchen job from 3 weeks ago which we lost to another company. She was in tears crying to me about what happened. After about 20 minutes I was able to understand because she was at the point of hysteria that I was in fear for her health trying to tell her to relax. Well, she had the company that low balled the job do the installation and on Thanksgiving she invited her entire family over and all the women were helping to prepare the big turkey dinner when the first set of cabinets came down smashing everything inside and underneath them. Then like a domino effect they all began tearing each other down breaking every piece of her precious china and smashing her $12,000 granite countertop. I asked her if she called the company that did the installation company, she informed that they didn't have a business card on them and gave her their # in the event she had any problems or needed more work. She told me she called the number they wrote down but it was to a cell phone that was out of time. I thought to myself here is another victim of their own doing. What professional company can't afford a land line or has such bad credit they have to use a pre-paid phone.I really couldn't understand why she was calling me. I guess she just wanted to speak to someone who understood the problem because we can't turn back time and save her china or counter. I finally got her to relax and told her to keep trying to contact this person and I would come by the coming Monday to assess the damages. I also suggested she contact her insurance company since she had insurance on the china.
Before I hung up the phone I knew exactly what happened and was only going there Monday out of pure sympathy for this poor lady, because there was nothing I could do to bring back all her china and the damages and above all embarrassment. As soon as I arrived she began crying again telling me that the insurance company declined her claim because it didn't cover damages as a result of improper installation and/or poor workmanship. She finally got a hold of the " big time " contractor who scraped up a ten spot for minutes only to hear that he wasn't a company and was living in a drop in shelter! Surprise??? Nope!!! I walked into the kitchen and every single cabinet was busted with the sheetrock torn off showing the bare framing and her electrical wires and water pipes. I moved up closer to the wall because I noticed the floor was wet about 6 feet from the sink and saw a screw they drilled directly into the water pipe and was only dripping but would eventually come out and flood the house or drip until it filled her wall, floor and neighbors below with mold and water damage. In a way it was a blessing that the cabinets did come down because if that leak never blew it would be trapped behind the wall and I would hate to think of the damages that would have happened if that blasted water for even just a few minutes never mind an hour or so if they had to call in the super to come in and shut off all the water to the building because at first they wouldn't know exactly where it was coming from. It could have been a real nightmare! I really didn't want to bring this mess to the attention of the building management for this persons sake. I was able to locate a shut off valve in a closet and cut the water off. Then we removed everything and used towels on the floor and a special funnel and hose we made to run the water to the sink because their was a lot of pressure in that pipe. I had the plumber fix the pipe and we went ahead and went with the original plan to strengthen the wall and run braces between the studs, hang new sheetrock with the wall behind the sink being water resistant. We painted it and sold her cabinets from a company we are a distributor for at our cost, and did the cabinet installation at just enough to cover operating costs and actual labor costs. In total she ended up spending about $50,000 for a job we could have done right the first time for under $20,000, and that doesn't include her financial losses in regard to the china and counters.
In my next posting I will tell you to look for in a quality contractor and what red flags should send you running the other way. Always remember that " Quality isn't Expensive, it's Priceless "!
I can't for the life of me understand why people go to Ikea, Crate & Barrel, or spend thousands of dollars on kitchen cabinetry only to have it assembled or installed by the person who quotes them the lowest price. Then they call us which ends up costing them more because they already paid some schmuck to do the job, now they have to pay us to come back in and try and fix their mistakes. With furniture it can be a simple fix or at least a minimum cost, but kitchen cabinets are another ballgame. I have seen so called expert installer utterly destroy thousands of dollars of cabinetry by not doing something as simple as mounting the cabinets to studs. I will never forget this one lady who contacted us last November to have us assemble and install about 10 base and 15 wall cabinets from a high end stock semi-stock cabinet company. We quoted her a price that was fair and competitive considering the work that was involved because the wall that seperated the kitchen from the living room was not well built and had studs every 4-5 feet so we would have to take down the sheetrock and reframe the wall and while we were in there we suggested that we run a support brace between each suds for the cabinets to screw into which would act as extra support, and since we were already opening the wall it would only be a hundred or two difference in cost. I felt she would understand the idea and reason for the added support since she made it a point in every email and at least a dozen times during our intial meeting how she would be storing her great Grandmothers fine bone china that was a perfect set and valued at $35,000.00. Which she even went as far as to insure it against theft, fire, etc.
Well, to make a long story short, she informed me very nicely that another company had provided a quote that more than half less than what we estimated. We never consider a person's financial status when calculating the estimate, unless the person has special circumstances such as a single mother trying to make it, or a family who has been through some sort of bad times. However, if the person is well off, great for them! We post our rates on our website to let people know that everyone pays the same. My point being is that this person was well to do and could had afforded to have any cabinets installed by anyone but choose to go with the lowest bidder. The minute I read the email red flags started popping up and I knew what the end result would be. She explained that she really wanted our company to do the work, but wanted us to match the other bidder's quote. I wrote her back and immediately and thanked her for her offer, but there was no way that we could do that amount of work for such a low price. I told her that she should really think this out because if someone submits such a low price compared to three or four other companies who are in the same range, it is normally a sign that the person is new to the business, will do a poor job because they can't afford to do a quality job at that price, or both. Professional companies have operating costs like insurance, rent, license fees, etc, plus quality technicians don't work for peanuts. Nevertheless, I didn't hear back from her until Thanksgiving.
I will never forget this call as long as I live. It was early afternoon and I had traveled to Pennsylvania to be with family for the holiday and my phone began to ring frantically. My daughter said " Daddy, don't answer the phone it's a howeyday and you don't work on howeydays" She was right so I looked at the number and didn't recognize the number so we went about our day, but the phone just continued to ring and ring and ring. Now I was getting upset because this person had called over 30 times in a half hour. then I got worried maybe a friend or coworker was involved in a accident so i decided to call the number back. Before i could even dial the number the phone was ringing again so I answered it and it was the lady who had the kitchen job from 3 weeks ago which we lost to another company. She was in tears crying to me about what happened. After about 20 minutes I was able to understand because she was at the point of hysteria that I was in fear for her health trying to tell her to relax. Well, she had the company that low balled the job do the installation and on Thanksgiving she invited her entire family over and all the women were helping to prepare the big turkey dinner when the first set of cabinets came down smashing everything inside and underneath them. Then like a domino effect they all began tearing each other down breaking every piece of her precious china and smashing her $12,000 granite countertop. I asked her if she called the company that did the installation company, she informed that they didn't have a business card on them and gave her their # in the event she had any problems or needed more work. She told me she called the number they wrote down but it was to a cell phone that was out of time. I thought to myself here is another victim of their own doing. What professional company can't afford a land line or has such bad credit they have to use a pre-paid phone.I really couldn't understand why she was calling me. I guess she just wanted to speak to someone who understood the problem because we can't turn back time and save her china or counter. I finally got her to relax and told her to keep trying to contact this person and I would come by the coming Monday to assess the damages. I also suggested she contact her insurance company since she had insurance on the china.
Before I hung up the phone I knew exactly what happened and was only going there Monday out of pure sympathy for this poor lady, because there was nothing I could do to bring back all her china and the damages and above all embarrassment. As soon as I arrived she began crying again telling me that the insurance company declined her claim because it didn't cover damages as a result of improper installation and/or poor workmanship. She finally got a hold of the " big time " contractor who scraped up a ten spot for minutes only to hear that he wasn't a company and was living in a drop in shelter! Surprise??? Nope!!! I walked into the kitchen and every single cabinet was busted with the sheetrock torn off showing the bare framing and her electrical wires and water pipes. I moved up closer to the wall because I noticed the floor was wet about 6 feet from the sink and saw a screw they drilled directly into the water pipe and was only dripping but would eventually come out and flood the house or drip until it filled her wall, floor and neighbors below with mold and water damage. In a way it was a blessing that the cabinets did come down because if that leak never blew it would be trapped behind the wall and I would hate to think of the damages that would have happened if that blasted water for even just a few minutes never mind an hour or so if they had to call in the super to come in and shut off all the water to the building because at first they wouldn't know exactly where it was coming from. It could have been a real nightmare! I really didn't want to bring this mess to the attention of the building management for this persons sake. I was able to locate a shut off valve in a closet and cut the water off. Then we removed everything and used towels on the floor and a special funnel and hose we made to run the water to the sink because their was a lot of pressure in that pipe. I had the plumber fix the pipe and we went ahead and went with the original plan to strengthen the wall and run braces between the studs, hang new sheetrock with the wall behind the sink being water resistant. We painted it and sold her cabinets from a company we are a distributor for at our cost, and did the cabinet installation at just enough to cover operating costs and actual labor costs. In total she ended up spending about $50,000 for a job we could have done right the first time for under $20,000, and that doesn't include her financial losses in regard to the china and counters.
In my next posting I will tell you to look for in a quality contractor and what red flags should send you running the other way. Always remember that " Quality isn't Expensive, it's Priceless "!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Ikea furniture is more than a simple weekwnd project!!!!
We’re a bit snowed in here, even had a real snow day yesterday where they let us go home early from work! A perfect weekend for indoor projects around the house. We made a trip to ikea earlier this week, a trip that we had been putting off since moving in. We had kind of been waiting until the shock of making the largest purchase of our life had worn off, until we felt like we could spend money again on needed furniture like new desks and bookcases.
Although there has been much cursing of the swedes and throwing my hands up in despair at interpreting the assembly diagrams (that dowel is supposed to go where?) I’m happy to have a really nice desk and it will hopefully help me to finally get my studio in presentable shape. Once all the clutter has been sorted into it’s new hiding places I hope to be able to share more photos of my workspace, it’s something I’ve been meaning to do. Also, please enjoy the new craft soundtrack, I have been listening to it while putting together the furniture all day, so it’s well tested!
Does this story sound familiar? Don't feel alone, about 50% of our clients thought for sure they could assemble their new piece 1,2,3, until they opened the box and glanced at the paper they enclosed they refer to as instructions. If you have came to the reality that you don't want to waste countless hours doing what you hate give us a call and we will handle everything while you handle the more important things like spending time with your family.
EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations, LLC
this article is compiments of "Thimble Arts & Crafts Blog"
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Mark Malkoff still IKEA redisent!!!!!!!!
January 14, 2008
Mark Malkoff, IKEA Resident
In June of 2007, Mark Malkoff made news with his attempt, documented in a funny video, to patronize each of Manhattan’s 171 Starbucks in a single day. Now the Comedy Central staffer is back in the press with his latest quirky idea; he spent last week living in the Paramus, New Jersey IKEA to avoid his fumigated apartment. The strange experiment has been humorously documented on his website; we got him on the phone in IKEA before his stay ended Saturday night. What are you doing right now? I was just in my living room hanging with a friend who came to visit me. Now I’m escorting her to the escalators; I’d walk out with her but I’m not leaving here for a week.Have a lot of buddies come to visit? Yeah, a lot of friends and a lot of people who just heard about me and come bringing food items and living supplies. They’re concerned with my well-being. People brought me Starbucks because I did that other video and I guess they thought that was funny.
But aren’t you entitled to eat for free at IKEA? I am; I can eat whatever I want of the Swedish food they serve here. I’ve been vegetarian since I was a kid so they’re working on the first ever IKEA tofu meatball. I’m getting kind of tired of Swedish food and I may order Chinese or Dominos later today. I’ll have to give them the address of 100 IKEA Drive and hope they can find me in the bedroom set.
How have you been adapting to residing in a store and not going outside for a week? I had my personal trainer come in and we worked out all over the store so I could try and live a normal life. I played Lazer Tag with security guards at two in the morning. The fluorescent lighting is on 20 hours a day which is getting to me because I don’t have any sunlight. I wake up from naps and there are people staring at me and I feel like an animal in a zoo.
But I brought it on myself. The apartment I’ve set up is so much nicer than my own apartment; the only thing is none of the stuff works. The first night I got sick around 4:30am and I had to vomit. I had about 10 seconds to decide where I was going to go. I ran to the toilet and remembered, "Wait, this is a fake toilet!" So I ran to the kitchen and vomited in the sink, then I remembered the kitchen sink is fake as well. I went away for an hour and when I came back the puke was cleaned up. So whoever’s job that is in IKEA, I am really sorry.
Have the IKEA managers tried to curb any of your antics? No, I get full creative control, which is insane to me. I met with them in mid-December and they’re letting me do this weeks later. I own the content with no restrictions on anything. The only thing they said I couldn’t do is paint my bedroom walls; I wanted to paint them green yesterday. But everything else goes. I can do whatever I want. If I want a clean towel I just go down to the towel department and get a clean towel. There’s a price tag on it when I dry myself but whatever. Yeah, this place is very livable except for the fluorescent lighting coming on at 4:15. And there’s construction right by where I live with hammering and drilling at about 5am. I absolutely feel like I’m back in the city.
What’s the construction about? The workers are always constructing bedroom sets. I’m living in what looks like a functional living room, bedroom, spare bedroom and bathroom with two sinks. This would go for at least $4,000 in Manhattan. I have a fake door but the living sets are all around me and they’re constantly working on them in the wee hours.Do you think your experience is in any way a comment on the pervasiveness of American consumer culture? I’m a comedian and filmmaker and I just needed a place to live for a week. So I thought two things: If I can move in here I’ll have a place to stay and I can make videos.
How do you respond to people who think this is just some viral marketing thing? IKEA is not paying me anything. I have my friends working for free, including WGA workers who are not working but who wanted to participate in something fun here. I just thought it would be funny to live in the store. If you look at the videos, I don’t think IKEA looks good all the time. In the first episode there’s a joke about my IKEA furniture falling apart. They let me close the store every night over the P.A. and I say things like, “Get out! I want to go to sleep! This is the King of IKEA, the god of Swedish furniture!” Last night at closing I did Bon Jovi covers and addressed a man over the P.A. saying, “You, the man in the brown suit and the obvious toupee, William Shatner wants his rug back.”
So I’m saying these uncensored things and IKEA is obviously not paying me to do these things. I just thought it would be good video content. We have no budget and I think it’s remarkable we’re able to make well-produced, funny content with a turnover rate less than 24 hours.
What are some of the news outlets who have visited you? I’ve had everyone from Germany to Sweden to Israel; the AP and Reuters were here and that’s how we got worldwide coverage. But I’ve had every country you can imagine email me for a radio interview and I’ve been doing about 10 a day because that’s all I can manage. People are inviting me to other IKEAs to sleep. I don’t know if they’re official or not but I politely declined.
You don’t see yourself moving on to life in other department stores? I don’t. I’m sure Target’s going to call next week and offer me this but I don’t want to live in a Target. I just wanted to make funny videos and I didn’t realize how much stinking fun this would be.
You seem to have a knack for getting a lot of press with oddball ideas. Where do you see all this headed? I’ve been doing comedy videos since I was a kid. I do these comedy videos all the time; it’s just that the two I did involving corporate entities are the ones that got me the press. But most of the stuff I do does not involve corporations. I pick premises I think are funny and just do them.What does your wife think of this? Christine thinks it’s funny but she doesn’t want to sleep over in a store. I’m not sure why. But she came to visit me and we had a date in the store Wednesday when the store closed and that was fun. Our apartment’s actually fine now; I got a call we could move back in on Wednesday night but I’m having too good of a time here. I have to leave Saturday at midnight because in Paramus no stores are open on Sundays.
Mark Malkoff, IKEA Resident
In June of 2007, Mark Malkoff made news with his attempt, documented in a funny video, to patronize each of Manhattan’s 171 Starbucks in a single day. Now the Comedy Central staffer is back in the press with his latest quirky idea; he spent last week living in the Paramus, New Jersey IKEA to avoid his fumigated apartment. The strange experiment has been humorously documented on his website; we got him on the phone in IKEA before his stay ended Saturday night. What are you doing right now? I was just in my living room hanging with a friend who came to visit me. Now I’m escorting her to the escalators; I’d walk out with her but I’m not leaving here for a week.Have a lot of buddies come to visit? Yeah, a lot of friends and a lot of people who just heard about me and come bringing food items and living supplies. They’re concerned with my well-being. People brought me Starbucks because I did that other video and I guess they thought that was funny.
But aren’t you entitled to eat for free at IKEA? I am; I can eat whatever I want of the Swedish food they serve here. I’ve been vegetarian since I was a kid so they’re working on the first ever IKEA tofu meatball. I’m getting kind of tired of Swedish food and I may order Chinese or Dominos later today. I’ll have to give them the address of 100 IKEA Drive and hope they can find me in the bedroom set.
How have you been adapting to residing in a store and not going outside for a week? I had my personal trainer come in and we worked out all over the store so I could try and live a normal life. I played Lazer Tag with security guards at two in the morning. The fluorescent lighting is on 20 hours a day which is getting to me because I don’t have any sunlight. I wake up from naps and there are people staring at me and I feel like an animal in a zoo.
But I brought it on myself. The apartment I’ve set up is so much nicer than my own apartment; the only thing is none of the stuff works. The first night I got sick around 4:30am and I had to vomit. I had about 10 seconds to decide where I was going to go. I ran to the toilet and remembered, "Wait, this is a fake toilet!" So I ran to the kitchen and vomited in the sink, then I remembered the kitchen sink is fake as well. I went away for an hour and when I came back the puke was cleaned up. So whoever’s job that is in IKEA, I am really sorry.
Have the IKEA managers tried to curb any of your antics? No, I get full creative control, which is insane to me. I met with them in mid-December and they’re letting me do this weeks later. I own the content with no restrictions on anything. The only thing they said I couldn’t do is paint my bedroom walls; I wanted to paint them green yesterday. But everything else goes. I can do whatever I want. If I want a clean towel I just go down to the towel department and get a clean towel. There’s a price tag on it when I dry myself but whatever. Yeah, this place is very livable except for the fluorescent lighting coming on at 4:15. And there’s construction right by where I live with hammering and drilling at about 5am. I absolutely feel like I’m back in the city.
What’s the construction about? The workers are always constructing bedroom sets. I’m living in what looks like a functional living room, bedroom, spare bedroom and bathroom with two sinks. This would go for at least $4,000 in Manhattan. I have a fake door but the living sets are all around me and they’re constantly working on them in the wee hours.Do you think your experience is in any way a comment on the pervasiveness of American consumer culture? I’m a comedian and filmmaker and I just needed a place to live for a week. So I thought two things: If I can move in here I’ll have a place to stay and I can make videos.
How do you respond to people who think this is just some viral marketing thing? IKEA is not paying me anything. I have my friends working for free, including WGA workers who are not working but who wanted to participate in something fun here. I just thought it would be funny to live in the store. If you look at the videos, I don’t think IKEA looks good all the time. In the first episode there’s a joke about my IKEA furniture falling apart. They let me close the store every night over the P.A. and I say things like, “Get out! I want to go to sleep! This is the King of IKEA, the god of Swedish furniture!” Last night at closing I did Bon Jovi covers and addressed a man over the P.A. saying, “You, the man in the brown suit and the obvious toupee, William Shatner wants his rug back.”
So I’m saying these uncensored things and IKEA is obviously not paying me to do these things. I just thought it would be good video content. We have no budget and I think it’s remarkable we’re able to make well-produced, funny content with a turnover rate less than 24 hours.
What are some of the news outlets who have visited you? I’ve had everyone from Germany to Sweden to Israel; the AP and Reuters were here and that’s how we got worldwide coverage. But I’ve had every country you can imagine email me for a radio interview and I’ve been doing about 10 a day because that’s all I can manage. People are inviting me to other IKEAs to sleep. I don’t know if they’re official or not but I politely declined.
You don’t see yourself moving on to life in other department stores? I don’t. I’m sure Target’s going to call next week and offer me this but I don’t want to live in a Target. I just wanted to make funny videos and I didn’t realize how much stinking fun this would be.
You seem to have a knack for getting a lot of press with oddball ideas. Where do you see all this headed? I’ve been doing comedy videos since I was a kid. I do these comedy videos all the time; it’s just that the two I did involving corporate entities are the ones that got me the press. But most of the stuff I do does not involve corporations. I pick premises I think are funny and just do them.What does your wife think of this? Christine thinks it’s funny but she doesn’t want to sleep over in a store. I’m not sure why. But she came to visit me and we had a date in the store Wednesday when the store closed and that was fun. Our apartment’s actually fine now; I got a call we could move back in on Wednesday night but I’m having too good of a time here. I have to leave Saturday at midnight because in Paramus no stores are open on Sundays.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Welcome
Hello. My name is Christopher, and I'm the owner and project manager of EZ Furniture Assembly of New York City. We are a professional furniture, fitness equipment, kitchen cabinet assembly and installation service. We also specialize in providing our customers with handyman and other helpful services. I spent a majority of my life working in sales and marketing. When I finally decided to leave this line of work I was the Regional Manager for a major marketing company. I was always told that whatever I decided to do, if I liked doing it it wouldn't be work. Well, when I worked in marketing the income was fantastic and I was living a "GQ" style life. As the years passed I became mentally, spiritually, and emotionally exhausted of this line of work and the entire lifestyle as a whole. I guess there just wasn't any real satisfaction in it for me, except the great income which actually became less important as I got older. I met the most wonderful person in all my life, and decided to move to New York City so we could be closer. Once here, I needed income but knew with every fiber in my body that I didn't want to go back into sales or marketing. I have always been very handy and come from a family of blue collar workers. When I was younger I always worked the summers as a masons tender, or as a carpenters helper. Then as I grew older many of my friends got into the real estate market and it seemed like every weekend I was helping fix or build something. And if you're like me you know and understand the great feeling of happiness and accomplishment you get when you see what your hard work has created or resulted in. So, I started doing side jobs here and there in the city to make ends meet until I found something permanent. After months of doing this I really began to take notice of all the furniture assembly work I was doing, and that there was such a great demand for this kind of service. I decided at that point that I was going to go all in and concentrate on building a business, a future. It's been about a year and it is still like going to school everyday, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have met so many wonderful people and can't begin to explain the feeling I get when I see the customers eyes light up when they the work we've done.
I decided to put this blog together where like minded people would have a place to meet, find and share information, tips, ideas, as well as their experiences. The blog is open to everyone, but I hope it will be the New Yorker's who really get involved. There are so many blogs that deal with an array of home improvement tips already. I want this to be the place where people in the city can share a sale at the Home Depot on 23rd, or how to make a SOHO loft look twice the size with a simple paint job. I hope that everyone from professional handymen, contractors, interior designers, and the like to the do it yourselfer and weekend warrior will find this blog not only informative but interesting and entertaining. I believe this will be just like any other venture I've been a part of, and we will only get out what we put in. If you have a question, ask it. If you know the answer, give it. If you have a story or experience, tell it. If you've been inspired by a story, share it.
I really have no idea as to what direction this blog will go in, but I do know that I look forward to hearing every ones suggestions, comments, and constructive criticism. I will be doing my best to answer any and all questions you may have regarding furniture assembly, kitchen cabinet installation, as well as any other questions you may have regarding your house or apartment. However, I hope that in time we will be able to put together a panel of experts that will be able to provide answers and information that are directly related to the services they provide. But keep in mind that this is an open blog and this blog is built on the concept of like minded individuals helping one another. So, if you know the answer or have a suggestion please share it.
The vast majority of the work we do is on IKEA products, so the first of hopefully many posts will be about IKEA and their products. Plus I've had a lot of this information on our company website and I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't share these articles.
I would like to thank everyone in advance, and hope to hear from you soon.
I decided to put this blog together where like minded people would have a place to meet, find and share information, tips, ideas, as well as their experiences. The blog is open to everyone, but I hope it will be the New Yorker's who really get involved. There are so many blogs that deal with an array of home improvement tips already. I want this to be the place where people in the city can share a sale at the Home Depot on 23rd, or how to make a SOHO loft look twice the size with a simple paint job. I hope that everyone from professional handymen, contractors, interior designers, and the like to the do it yourselfer and weekend warrior will find this blog not only informative but interesting and entertaining. I believe this will be just like any other venture I've been a part of, and we will only get out what we put in. If you have a question, ask it. If you know the answer, give it. If you have a story or experience, tell it. If you've been inspired by a story, share it.
I really have no idea as to what direction this blog will go in, but I do know that I look forward to hearing every ones suggestions, comments, and constructive criticism. I will be doing my best to answer any and all questions you may have regarding furniture assembly, kitchen cabinet installation, as well as any other questions you may have regarding your house or apartment. However, I hope that in time we will be able to put together a panel of experts that will be able to provide answers and information that are directly related to the services they provide. But keep in mind that this is an open blog and this blog is built on the concept of like minded individuals helping one another. So, if you know the answer or have a suggestion please share it.
The vast majority of the work we do is on IKEA products, so the first of hopefully many posts will be about IKEA and their products. Plus I've had a lot of this information on our company website and I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't share these articles.
I would like to thank everyone in advance, and hope to hear from you soon.
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About Me
- ezassembly
- I am a person who has had a rollercoaster of a life, with more downs than ups. I spent several years in marketing in which I started entry level and left Regional Marketing Director. I was blessed with a little princess and deiced my life needed an over haul so I started EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations, LLC with no more than a few screwdrivers, a shoebox of past due bills and a passion to succeed at something I found I really enjoy. Today I run NYC's top professional furniture assembly & kitchen installation companies, and am considered an expert in my industry.