This past weekend Bryan and I went to Ikea. If you follow The Gathered Home on Instagram or Facebook, you may remember this picture that represents our respective emotions on the subject:
Thankfully, as we pranced through Ikea euphoric with steals and deals and Swedish magic, Bryan’s mood mellowed…
Hehe, okay: he was a good sport, but Ikea is figuratively* torture to him, so I’m so happy he humored me and came along to provide muscle. And he may have hammed it up just a little for these pictures 😉
*If it were literally torture, of course I would not ask him to accompany me as it would probably be some sort of a human rights violation…
Well, as you can see, I snagged a much-coveted fiddle leaf fig plant (more on that at a later point!) and some very large boxes.“What’s in the box???!!!” (Name that movie. Never mind. I wouldn’t wish the ending of that movie on any soul. Just try to forget I mentioned it.)
Two Billy bookcases in white, for our office, $60 each. And I put them together on my own. #Strongindependentwoman. #Ihavethebruisestoproveit.
I have this to say for Ikea: even though people poke fun at their wordless and sometimes confusing instruction pamphlet, these bookcases could not have been simpler to assemble.
I spent about an hour putting together both of them, and it was a very intuitive and easy process! While I couldn’t have manhandled the boxes from Ikea onto the truck and into the house and up the stairs on my own (thanks babe!), each individual piece was light enough for me to manage, so if you are going to be putting these together without help, never fear! If you don’t have a second strong pair of arms, you could even unpack the boxes at Ikea before loading your vehicle since each piece is totally manageable on its own… I was able to wrangle each bookcase upright and shimmy it up against the wall solo as well. #Girlpower. #WhyamIhashtaggingmyblogpostnow?
I was totally bushed after putting these together, and, no lie, I did earn three or four bruises simply by bumping into and hopping over all the crap littering the office floor while trying to wrangle six and half foot boards, so I held off on stocking the bookcases until the next day.
And that took about six times as long as actually building the darn things! I had a minimalism freak out where I kind of wanted to chuck all the books into a donation pile and artistically stage the bookcase with mini cacti, river rocks, one of those sand meditation gardens with a little rake, and plenty of blessed white space.
You see, our books have been packed up in 15 or so boxes since two moves ago. November of 2012, to be precise. And part of me just about had a panic attack about unpacking all the boxes and organizing the books and getting them up on the shelves.
Bryan was like: “They’re books. Those are bookshelves. Just put the books on the shelves. Done.”
My brain was like: “Must categorize and sort by subject and/or color and possibly hardback versus paperback. And height.”
As you can see, I didn’t get rid of all of our books while dramatically declaring “Think of the trees! Books are murder!” And that, my friends, is success in my book*.
*Pun not intended, but welcomed with open arms.
I also set up a little lounging corner with E.T. (Eamesy’s upstairs twin), my tripod lamp (booted from the downstairs living room by my midcentury brass floor lamp), $5 Goodwill faux bamboo table, some thrifted and DIY art, and Bryan’s seriously awesome chess set via this talented Etsy seller.
A closer look at my thrift-store stitched artwork (#thriftscorethursday anyone?) and a piece I painted for Bryan… It depicts us sitting on a park bench on our own tiny planet watching the sun rise/set together. As we do.
It’s a reference to The Little Prince. It may not be fantastic, but it holds a lot of meaning for me!
And a beauty shot of the truly stunning hand-carved chess set. (Seriously, go check out naturalchess on Etsy – we aren’t remotely connected, but I must give credit where credit is due! The guy is such an artist!)
Tiny Tina agrees.
You rarely see evening photos in the home blogging world, but this room is so cozy with its dark walls once the lights are on that I wanted to share one.
So there it is. I managed to turn “we went to Ikea and bought bookshelves” into a blog post with too many photos. Bryan was like: “Why are you blogging about bookshelves? Everyone has bookshelves.” And I mean, I know they are just simple Ikea bookshelves that I literally just put books in and then spent a ridiculous amount of time photographing, but I really love how that corner of the office has turned out so far. And I got to sneak in a picture of Tiny T. All in a day’s work!
What have you been up to around your house? Any recent trips to Ikea? (What did you buy?)
But it was bookshelves..and office..and artwork..and Tiny Tina – it looks great!
Hehe, thanks Shelley 🙂
I also went to Ikea this weekend AND bought a fiddle leaf fig! My fiance, until he saw the sticker, thought was called a "fiddly fig", which is now what we call it fondly 🙂
Ikea twins!!! (I get really excited at fun yet probably mundane coincidences like this!) Love "fiddly fig" – I will probably start calling mine that too now… Unless I name it something like "Chester"… Which is a distinct possibility, now that I think of it….
We went to IKEA over the weekend too! We didn't get bookshelves but I love yours! I like how the bright white pops against your dark walls. I also love the little reading nook you set up. That painting you made is so darling!
Thanks Caitlin! MORE IKEA TWINS >> I think my day has just been made! Hehe, what did you score?
YAY!!! You know I love those white ikea bookcases giiiirl! 🙂 and I am so excited you got to unpack your books!!! Joy!!! They look wonderful. 😉
Thanks Tania! I really do have a thing for old books and I'm super happy to have them out & about again 🙂
Love the bookshelves and kudos for putting them together! By the way, your ET Chair is awesome! Thanks for sharing at The Makers!
Thanks Katie! Haha, E.T. is a keeper – I can't not see a lovable alien every time I look at that chair 😉
This is looking great! Love love love that chair!
Thank you Ashley! 🙂
they are absolutely perfect there! and i love the reading corner! you crack me up.
Thanks Cassie! I'm glad I can amuse 🙂
Bookshelf envy right now! 😉 I'm starting to run out of space … again. And that is a perfectly lovely workspace/reading corner.
You just need to LIVE in a library… Maybe then you would have enough bookshelf space. Although I doubt it 😉
I almost never go to ikea without getting a blog post out of it :). The shelves look great, and I'm loving the reading nook!
Yay! I'm glad it's not just me! A trip to Ikea is a big deal in this household, so you'd better believe I consider it blogworthy 🙂
Haha the look on your fellers face is priceless … reminds me of me and my man on our renovating/decorating expeditions! Although Iv learnt to visit Ikea alone, buy anything I can fit in the car, and only take him when I need the ute and big items that wont fit in my car lol.
Your office looks awesome love the dark moody walls and white furniture against it.
Off for a looksy around the rest of your home now 🙂
Haha, that sounds like a great plan for relationship peace 🙂
Thanks so much Michelle 🙂
Our bookshelves… Sigh… I have tried the organizing and styling and all that so many times. And it never sticks. (It has something to do with these little people living in my house) And I've finally come down on the bookshelves are just for books side of the argument too. And, honestly, I've grown to kind of love the jumble of messy books. Still am loving the wall color.
Thanks Alexis! Who'd think we "bookshelves are for books" folks would be in the minority? Haha.
P.S. At first I read "little people living in my house" in a St. Patrick's day/Irish "wee folk" sense. It's totally cool to blame those tricksy pixies for any mess 😉
Ha! That first photo had me laughing. You look so happy! I love the book shelves too. Especially against the dark walls and with that fabulous chair! Thanks for sharing at The Makers!
Haha, thanks Corey! We have fun together 🙂
It looks so so good. You have so many pretty books. AND why oh why do they never have fiddle leafs at our Ikea???
Thank you Julia! My secret was to put all the "ugly" books on the bottom shelves so you notice all the pretty ones at eye level 😉 Did you see the photo YHL shared on Instagram about fiddle leaf figs at Home Depot? Someone in the comments mentioned being able to order one online & have it delivered to their house! Genius!
I think you just started a trend… your night shot makes me want to hang out there and casually flip through some of your book collection!!
Your office is really turning into a cozy retreat. Great work as usual Brynne!!
Aw, thanks Trisha! It's a great place to hang out in the evening, and I hope we'll actually start hanging out in there once we get some projects wrapped up over on the desk side of things… Making progress!
first of all, point for me, because i don't think anyone mentioned your movie reference. seven. or must i say se7en. second, i love the idea of you prancing around ikea, how fun. thirdly, i am loving the moody walls on this space and the bookcase styling. well done! also, kitty love. so cute!
Ding ding ding! Give the girl a silver dollar! I have a love/hate relationship with that movie – so good, but so brutal. I can't help but quote "What's in the box??!" way too frequently around here though!
Hehe, thanks friend! I just spotted your lovely little kitty on your blog – she looks quite a bit like Tiny Tina! 🙂
Your hours of painstaking styling was worth it. The bookcases look great! Your room is coming along nicely.
And I'm looking forward to the Fiddle Leaf Fig post!
Thank you Miss Charming 🙂 I'll have to get that post ready to rock soon!
I'm in the middle of transforming my office. Your blog and photos on this post are inspiring! Thanks for sharing!! 🙂 Dawn @730moments.com
I LOVE IKEA! I have at least 50 things in each room from Ikea, I also had billy book cases in my flat, but they have since been given away to my hubbies nephew – for not being expensive they really do last and last. Our new place has oddly shaped recesses so we have had to opt for custom built ins (not yet installed) the rubbish weather has confounded our carpenter, as the paint and filler has not set in the very damp UK winter.
Now for the health and safety bit…did you anchor those suckers to the wall? If not, you must…a wonky floor board when stepped on might make them tip, and the carpet spiky thing that goes against the wall often means the edge of a room is not square and can tilt them slightly forwards.
Love the bookshelves and love your office space (those globes rock)! I have a couple in my dressing room that I managed to assemble myself and girl, I hear you with the #girlpower. You've earned those bruises, be proud. Also, kitty is just gorgeous. The world would be a better place if there were more cats on the internet…oh wait, hang on… 😉 xxx
Featuring you today! 🙂 Thank you so much for linking up to {wow me} wednesday!
Ginger @ GingerSnapCrafts.com