Billy Is In The House

Last week we took delivery of four Billys; you know the ubiquitous, whisper it *IKEA*, bookcases. I have a bit of a thing about books in that 1) I find it very hard to let go of any that I've read (unless they were truly awful, in which case they are gone, gone, gone) and 2) I find it very hard to stop buying new (or new to me) books despite the fact that my unread bookcases are pretty full.

This was the situation in the snug back in March 2012

Meanwhile on the landing...

As a result of this (some might call it a problem, but I prefer quirk), there were 20 boxes of books taking up valuable storage space in the garage and feeling pretty neglected. Plus, a house isn't a home unless it's full of books in my opinion, which meant our garage was doing a great impression of a home, while our actual home wasn't so much.

Hubby and I decided that the best place for the books would be the snug; we got a quote from a carpenter for some built-in, made-to-measure bookcases that made us wonder whether housing the books was such a good idea (let's just say it was a four-figure sum), and then we struck upon the idea of the Billy. Sometimes when we make a decision it takes forever to put it into practice, but not this time. We were all bish, bash, bosh, let's do it. We popped round to our neighbours house to look at their Billys (that's not meant to sound rude, but somehow it does), we checked the IKEA website for size options and set to measuring the snug, I went to IKEA in Bristol a few days later to see Billy and his extended family and check that the colour we thought we wanted was definitely the right option, then hubby was on the IKEA website and an order was placed. Then it was just a case of clearing out the snug (hubby did a great job) and waiting for the delivery van to arrive. And while we're waiting let's take a look at how the snug has changed over the last few years.

Prior to moving in

Check out those clashing curtains

The walls finally got some colour at the beginning of the year

OK, that's enough reminiscing, back to the present and it's all change - hubby got those bookcases up in double quick time (I had visions of one half-built bookcase with a hammer through it since hubby is not the greatest fan of IKEA/flatpack furniture, but everything went very smoothly), so much so that I only had a chance to take a photo when they were all already built. Excuse the awful quality of the snaps - iPhone + night time = baaaad.

 And so it begins - this is hubby's bookcase; yes that's right, he has one, I have three.

You can only imagine the sheer pleasure of unpacking box after box of books and arranging/re-arranging them on those shelves. Bliss. (Yes, you may call me odd, but I used to work in a library.)

And, finally, the boxes were empty (as long as you don't count the three [or is it four?] that are still in the garage full of travel guides...) and the shelves were full. There isn't much room left for future purchases, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, it feels so good to walk in to a room full of books, and in the evening when the fire is lit and the lamps are on, it really does feel like a snug.