When you finally agree on - and purchase - a coffee table or a tallboy, it has likely slipped your mind that you will most likely have to assemble the cursed thing at home yourself. But assemble it you will, unless you have a handy (and willing) friend, family member or partner. Or, you could call the Flat Pack Girl. Novocastrian Katie Randall is a primary school teacher by day who moonlights as a flat-pack superhero on standby to help a fellow citizen in distress. This person is typically found sitting on the floor surrounded by a pile of flimsy panels, thousands of screws and a War and Peace edition of difficult-to-decipher instructions. And where is that Allen key when you need it most? Randall is a DIY, hands-on kind of girl. She is logical and pragmatic but also creative. She's into LEGO. Arts and crafts. Sewing. Macrame. Cross-stitch. Crochet. Flat packs. One gets the feeling that patience is a virtue of hers. "I also love puppies, working with kids, reading, being a vegetarian, being outside, being on the coast, trees, looking after the planet, and probably most of all, travel," she tells Weekender. "In the past 10 years I have lived a total of four-and-a-half years outside of Australia (mostly in the UK and Canada), travelled to 33 countries, completed a teaching degree, started a mini business (or two), and have recently embarked on my Masters degree [in education]." Randall is a teacher librarian in training, runs an online craft business called krrandi kraft and was once a ski instructor at Whistler in Canada. "Flat-packing came about when I moved back to Australia around Christmas last year, had a long summer ahead of me and realised that there are people out there who don't share the same passions as me and would prefer someone else to assemble their flat packs for them," she says. "Since then I have helped out various friends and family, and put the call out on the Newcastle Echo Facebook page and Gumtree where I found others requiring my assistance. And so here we are. Flat-packing has officially become one of my favourite hobbies." She is quite to assert that flat-pack construction is a hobby, not a job. She just so happens to love doing it as much as others hate it. "I am really keen to appeal to women who need flat packing, as I feel this is something that really stood out to me from some feedback I've had," Randall says. "Not only is it a comfort thing for them, not having a 'creepy' or strange guy in their house, but it's also a comfort to me, too, going into these houses knowing that we're on the same page and that I'm not being put in an uncomfortable position. I'm here to help the sisters out, and I really love that I'm in a position to be able to do that." One of her favourite flat-pack reviews to date was from a woman roughly her own age. "She was super stoked there was a female out there doing handy work and could help with her flat pack, as she previously had a random man come and do a similar job but felt very uncomfortable alone with him in her house," Randall explains. "This just made me so pumped, knowing I was not only helping out, but providing peace of mind and a sense of security as well." No job is too big or too small for the Flat Pack Girl, although she does draw the line at kitchens. For now. She likes a challenge. She also has a Working With Children Check and full first aid certification "should anyone require a Band-Aid" in her presence. Having said all that, Randall would prefer people bought pre-loved furniture. "As much as I enjoy flat packing, I'm also a pretty big zero-waste advocate and flat packing is definitely not zero waste, unfortunately," she says. "I would always encourage people to first go out and buy pre-loved furniture or embark on a DIY project as opposed to filling their house with IKEA flat packs. The waste from boxes and packaging (especially the plastic) is not great." The Flat Pack Girl can be contacted via her Facebook page.