DIY

This weekend, I decided to finally get done the IKEA Billy bookcases that have been staring at me since I got them in August, but I had to wait until I thought my wrist would be up to the job, plus it took me a while to take out all of the stuff in the study. I had more than I realised, which I think is always the way when you just collect stuff and never actually sit down and really go through it.

I got them up finally, took a bit of work, not the bookcases themselves, they really were quite easy to do, but following the instructions and trying to do exactly what it said, mmm, that was a bit harder. The width of my doors in the house are narrower than the bookcases so when it said I had to turn them over I couldn't do it properly and I couldn't lay them flat, as there isn't enough space in my study to do that, as the door is narrow, the study itself is quite narrow as well, so after a lot of huffing and puffing, I managed to work a system out by bringing them upright and then on their sides again, eventually managing to get the bookcases built.

Then came the worrying part, they need to be screwed into the wall, or lets say attached to the wall with the anti-wobble device, which is just a bracket screwed into the bookcase and the wall. The walls in my house, are blown all over, so was fearful I would end up with a bunch of holes like I had previously, trying to find a spot where there wasn't a blown bit of plaster. The gods must have been smiling on me, cause I got lucky twice, and now the bookcases are attached to the walls with the device and saves a bit of wobble as long as no one tries to be spiderman I am okay.

They look good in the study, it looks tidier and more compact as well, the only downside is that my skirting boards are quite high as the house is quite old, over 100 years old, and the skirting boards are much higher than newer houses, so it means the bookcases are not flushed against the wall as they would be because the lip on the bookcases isn't high enough, but otherwise a great product and quick and simple to put together and I am dead pleased with them as well, so at least I don't have to worry about my other half feeling like I am making the study a mess.