Hi Michael,
I did a flatpack kitchen recently.. I didnt find it hugely challenging despite feeling somewhat daunted by the task.. my kitchen was L Shaped which make things much easier..
What did I learn?
1. Order the benchtops as soon as you can.. they can take weeks to be made..
2. Don't trust the whackers at Bunnings (for eg.) who tell you "its all in stock!, just come in and pick up what you want!"..
3. Have a way of deaing with waste.. the volume of rubbish you generate from the packaging etc is enormous.. the foam is especially problematic..
4. Get the best quality cordless drill money can buy and have a second battery on charge at all times. USe the clutch mechanism on the drill to ensure you dont overtighten screws... have really good quality screwdriver bits and have some spares.
5. You CAN do pretty much the entire job alone but it really pays to have someone to help lift the overhead cupboards into place.
6. Plan the electrics well in advance..
7. Do the flooring first and then put the cabinets on top of it.. I tiled.
8. Read the instructions religiously.. I didnt realise the feet provided support for the kickboards and couldn't work out why they thought it was so important the feet were placed so precisely
9. Make a template for the placement of the screw holes for handles.. a bit of masonite or something with holes exactly in the right place that you can clamp to each door and get the holes in precise locations.
10. Get a bucket or something and keep every screw etc.. you'll use them eventually..
11.. Still cant work out how to put drawer fronts on accurately.. I ended up using double stick tape to temporarily hold them whilst I drilled screw holes.. and its still there
12. Clean up every day.. vacuum etc.. keep the job site as neat as possible..
Here's the one I did:
Before:
After: