I, like many bookworms before me, have what some people might call “too many books.”
And I’m perfectly okay with that. The real issue? The space. I simply do not have the shelves for all my wonderful books. The to-be-reads and have-read-but-must-keeps and the-classics-that-I-feel-I-need-to-own. I’ve had these modular shelving units from Target that I kept my knickknacks on since I was a kid.
My old, kiddy bookcase. Short, stuffed, overflowing with books and animals. And my to-reads aren’t even on here!
In other words, they were a mess.
I mean, look at that. And I had to keep all the books I had yet to read on a different bookshelf my mom lent me.
The horror!
I jest, of course, but I was getting pretty sick of them.
Enter IKEA.
Oh IKEA. You feel so original walking into IKEA. You look at the room models and you look at your living room/bedroom/office full of freshly assembled Scandinavian furniture and think yes…this is so clean…so nice…so original. Then you go to a party at a friend’s place and see the same bookcase…and desk…and end table.
Ah well, I went there anyway with my two best friends (one outfitting a new apartment, the other coming along for “emotional support,” but still managing to walk away with a yellow bag full of knickknacks). And I picked me out some bookcases.
And dude. Why is putting IKEA furniture together so hard?? Look at a bookcase: a back, a side, a top and bottom, adjust the shelves as needed, easy! Nope. Definitely not. I messed up on one, and gave up after the second one. Luckily I have a significant other who snuck into my house when I was away for a couple of days and assembled the third one. What a keeper 🙂
Ooooh, shiny!
Anyhoo, the new bookcases!
They’re still full to bursting…but everything is on there now! Select knickknacks, my magazines (all filed into boxes, neatly labeled and everything!), my to-reads, classics, and coffee table books!
It’s kind of like an I Spy game…can you find….the ampersand? Grumpy cat? Where I screwed up when assembling one of the bookcases? How about my two collections of Harry Potter (international and domestic)? My grandmother’s wedding cake topper?
And also, good luck, because this photo was taken on my phone 😉
See if you can spot some books I’ve reviewed, too! Any home improvement projects you’ve done recently? Thoughts on IKEA?
Ampersand Read 