The Wall of Books

My books are like a security blanket for me. I love having them, I love having them near, and it really bugs me that they are downstairs and stacked two deep on the only set of shelves we have indoors.

It also bugs me that there is a blank wall in my bedroom. Yup, let's fix those two things by adding a wall of bookshelves, so we can have all our books at arm's reach.  Whaddya say?

The blank wall, or what I have pictured of it.
Ever notice you don't take many pictures of a blank wall while it's blank?

Well...Doug would say it's too expensive. So, I bought them one day while he was at work. A friend of mine wanted to go to IKEA while another friend was watching our little ones, and knowing that I wanted to bring home many shelving units (requiring more than one person to lift), I happily agreed. Even though I was sick at the time. No children, friend to help. You have to grab these opportunities, right?

We played around a loooong time, grabbed what they had in stock (it wasn't everything, darn it), and barely made it home in time to pick up children - there is always a time limit when children are involved. Darn it. It was also lunch time, which is when Doug gets home...and I did get "the look".

He helped bring the shelves in, asking petulantly, "Didn't you want me to make some for you?"

My answer is always, "YES! But...", with several reasons following. For one, he doesn't have the time. So we're talking a few years if I want them made. For two, although it would be less expensive, it wouldn't be that much less expensive. The wood alone would run several hundred dollars, then we're back to having the time to make it. For three, if I bring them home completed, I don't have to paint them. I can, if I want to, later. But this way, it's what I want now, no extra work required.

That last part isn't exactly true. Since I bought my shelves at IKEA, they did need to be put together. I had fully intended to put them together myself, but Doug saw the boxes and started opening, and assembling, and truly, I was too grateful to stop him.

Oh yes, one of the pieces was an armoire. Again, lots of reasons here: Doug needs a place to pile his stuff. Inside those doors looks like a good place to me, what do you think? Also, those bookshelves (which I love) would not have fit perfectly against that wall - I would have had a large gap somewhere. This fit the bill nicely.  As an added bonus: there's a cute little skeleton key!

Yup, I had to add a ribbon.

And here's the rest of those shelves. I did end up getting the rest of them later in the week. By myself, thank you very much...the heavy ones were already at home.

Once they were up, I started adding stuff. Still working on that, but you can see a plant I also obtained at IKEA...and a little Sophia hand print on the left-hand door. Both Jack and Sophia went straight to breaking them in once they were up. Another reason for adding stuff...less room for little bodies on those shelves!

So, what do you think? Are you as obsessed about books, so much so that you have to have them in your bedroom? The house I grew up in, after all, had a bookshelf in almost every room. Not kidding. Are you able to keep them in the public rooms, so that everyone can review your reading choices? Just wondering!

Hope you're having a great week, by the way! We're sick here, but then, it is January...