I think I had mentioned that Toby had jumped on one of the bookcase shelves and broke it. I suppose way back in the day I installed this incorrectly, though I am not 100% sure that this wasn't actually a manufacturing defect (with the shelf support upside down).
It doesn't really matter whose fault it was (although most of the blame goes to the cat), but I couldn't leave it like that. The bookcases showed up in two boxes, and I set aside time this weekend to assemble them.
The white stripe to the left is where there was an odd triangular shelf. I had to remove that because the two bookcases side by side will be slightly wider than the original bookcase.
On Sat. I did get the shelf down (as in the photo) and even did some painting. I managed to get one of the bookcases started by Sat. evening and then finished it up on Sunday. One thing I did this time, which I almost never do is install the anti-tip hardware that anchors it to the wall, in case the cats try to jump up again!
I really had planned to finish the second one on Sunday, but really didn't feel that well. I was getting some strange sort of vertigo and was dizzy when I stood up; I actually fell over once or twice while walking! That was very disconcerting, and I decided I just needed to go to bed.
I feel much better, and I managed to get most of the books onto the shelves. (The objet d'art on the top is by Vancouver artist Vanessa Lam.)
I should definitely be able to get the other bookcase up tonight. I have no idea if they will be as sturdy as advertised, but the span is considerably shorter, which should help. One bonus feature is that I can use quite a bit more of the poetry shelf on the wall to the left. I think between that and saving the top shelf of the second bookcase for poetry, I should be able to get this in decent shape. (Right now there are poetry collections stacked all over the place!)
One of the more surprising things is that I banged the broken shelf back into place. The boards were a bit bowed, but it was still a mostly functional bookcase if used more for display of a few books and vases and seashells and whatever else Ikea thinks should be on bookcases aside from books! We left it outside with a sign saying Free on it. I fully expected we would have to hang onto it until big trash day, but it was gone within 24 hours. I hope its next owner appreciates it and can use it for a few years. I'm pretty glad we managed to keep it out of the trash. That was certainly unexpected.
It definitely was a big push, but I managed to get the second bookcase together by midnight and then got the last of the books out of the hallway. It will definitely take a while to get this properly sorted, but I actually have slightly more space for books now, and I just have to hope that they hold up for a while.
Even the poetry shelf is more functional now, though it badly needs to be reorganized. I've managed to get through a considerable amount of poetry in Jan. and Feb., and the piles in the living room are manageable. There are several large piles of books in the back room that I will have to start tackling in the next tranche of reading.
