apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Me too! Just made some delicious blueberry muffins, doing some online Christmas shopping, and trying to stay focused on studying for a final exam.

P.S.
As you can see from the online shopping and visit to this website, the studying is not so successful at this point. Enjoy your sunny Sunday!

Sunshine... there's a thought! It's monsoon season here at last.

Pecan tarts from last night's post-class drink-and-mingle session probably don't constitute a healthy breakfast. Maybe lunch...

I love Sundays! Although it is the day before the dreaded Monday, at least I use it as a way to recoup from active Saturday events!

Diane
I get a live tree for the strong real piney smell it brings in the house. Pretty sure they don't spray the trees with fake scent, but I have heard about pesticides being used that bother people.
There's also the issue of mold. We decorated an asthmatic friend's apt with pine boughs only to find she was hideously allergic to pine tree mold. Who knew it existed?!

ick, sorry to mention it...

cooking broccoli soup, soaking my feet, paying bills, online shopping for one last gift, and watching "Far from Heaven." I love Sunday even too.

i meant "evening" too

i meant "evening"

I'm thinking about buying Expedit bookcases from Ikea. Honestly, I like the design better than anything else I've found. They're pretty inexpensive, but I have to lug them from the outskirts (I'm in Chicago) and put them together by myself, so I'm looking for a bit of input first.

Does anyone have experience with them? Like them?

Marisa
I have and quite like the Expedit bookcase, in black. I went to the store for the white, but the finish looked cheesey to me. So, have a hard look at that and consider your options. I'm v. happy with the way the black looks on my white wall.

Putting them together is somewhere on the low to midrange on the Ikea scale of difficulty. You need a space to lay it out flat to fit the shelves together. You basically get a bunch of squares and a couple of long pieces for the frame. I mostly did it myself, but had some critical holding assistance where needed. It was a year or more ago, so I don't remember it well enough to say whether I could have made do with a chair propping something up instead of my girlfriend. I like to think she's not that easily substituted!

I think they look better than alot of shelves that cost considerably more . . . and they're bloody sturdy. We have heavy Creuset pots and big fat books on it. I think 'tis one of Ikea's best items.

wende, my sympathies
there no misery like being in the Bay Area for the rainy horror holidays. I moved out there for a relationship once, and that was the beginning of the end . . . it was a year of mudslides, but perhaps they all are.
I'll never forget the wretched electric heater built-in high up the hallway wall of the little house we were in, a house only fit for 70 degree weather. Cold and wet is great if you're prepared, which my california never was.
(shudder)

Do you think the Christmas tree sellers ever spray the trees with pine scent? We put ours up tonight and it had such a strong smell once we got it in the house, then we both got a big headache. It was weird. It would be completely perverse to give a real tree fake pine scent.

Marisa. You're right. You can't a better-designed bookcase for the price. I have the "birch effect", which works well in my room. I use mine not just for storage, but also to display art and tchotchkes. (I'll post a pic on the Flickr slideshow on the LA site if you want to check it out.) And Guido is right on two counts. 1) It is one of IKEA's best pieces. 2) It is about low-to-midrange in terms of difficutlty to assemble. BUT it is definitely a 2-person operation--mostly because it is such a large-scale piece. Final thought: if you have room for the bigger Expedit bookcase, go for it. It has more presence in a room.

Hey Guido, we have to have a few negatives to keep us from being overrun. A fire storm here, an earthquake there - and lousy insulation in most housing over 20 years old. It can be trying.

When we looked at lofts in SoMa, I noticed that some developments didn't even have the little forced-air vent up the wall. The only source of heat was the gas fireplace in the living room. On a 50-degree day, that's... um... optimistic.

Marisa-

I just got 3 Expedit bookcases in the 6x6 size - in white. I am happy with them. I definitely needed at least one other person to help put them together, it wouldn't have been possible by myself. The first one took more time to put together, the 3rd one only took 39 minutes to put together, but I had two people helping for the last one.

I would recommend getting a rubber mallet for the job if you don't already have one.

Also, a note about lugging them from IKEA yourself: I rented a budget truck with a friend, and we went to IKEA to buy them and bring back to my place. I was surprised to find that each 6x6 bookcase comes in 3 very large, very heavy boxes. We loaded everything into the truck (in addition to some other stuff). Then I decided to unload everything, take all of the boxes back upstairs, and just do home delivery -it was going to be too much of a headache to unload all of the heavy boxes ourselves. Part of my decision to do that was also because of the logistics of not being able to double park on my street, etc. But I am so glad I decided to do home delivery. It would have been a nightmare otherwise.

Does anyone know where I can get a good-looking fake christmas tree in NYC?

Marissa- I got 2 of the 4x4 white expedit bookcases a few months ago. I borrowed my father's suv for the weekend and bribed a friend to help me. It was DEFINITELY a two person job. Each case came in 2 boxes, so 4 total.

I kept on seeing the case in magazines and was shocked to find out it was ikea and totally in my budget!!!! I like the larger case because of the presence that someone else described, but i measured my new apartment's wall, and 2 fit side by side almost perfectly.

I would not even consider building this myself. It wasn't tough at all to build, but you just need a second set of hands. Rubber mallet is a plus.

About a month ago I decided to rearrange a bit and cut out one part of a shelf (this would have been much easier before assembly!) So 4 squares became on huge one. Anyway, now my tv/vcr/dvd players all live in the case, too. I just had to get some white paint to touch up!

I just went to a holiday party saturday and the host had the black large one in his hallway. It looked great, too!

anyone know a place where i could donate a mattress? it's practically new and a quasi tempurpedic. thanks! email to iamjoequint(at)yahoo(dot)com.

wende - when I first moved to Sausalito in March of '91 it started raining the day I got there and didn't stop for a month! Then when I moved back out there in '00 it was so windy and rainy that the more than stable garden fence was at a tilt. I love it out there when it's NOT raining.

Hi Expedit owners...jsut wondered whether you all have fixed your shelving to the wall. Am looking at purchasing this piece.
Thanks for your postings, they have helped me a lot.
Iana

Marissa, Did you end up putting it together yourself? I bought the larger (72"x72") IKEA Expedit and am trying to put it together myself. Laying it out on your floor (as somebody else mentioned, make sure you have plenty of open space) is fine solo, but placing the last piece (the top) on does not seem possible without assistance. I also found laying it out on carpet was a pain - I have berber carpet so it is hard to slide the bottom pieces into place. A rubber mallet is a necessity.
I know they recommend fixing anything taller than 36" to the wall, but I probably won't (unless it tips otherwise) since they did not provide hardware.
Also be aware that instructions are all diagrams, no words.

Hello. I found this thread via Google while looking for information on the IKEA Expedit shelving unit. I've now purchased an assembled the 72"x72" white model, and figured I'd offer some words on the experience for posterity.

I put together the Expedit mostly by myself, with a bit of help from my father. I basically followed IKEA's instructions. It was pretty clear. You definitely need help at the very end, after the unit is assembled, to raise it into a standing position. Though it'd be good to have a friend or significant other help out, because it'd go faster. Also, the moral support would be nice.

As noted above, you need a lot of floor space to assemble the thing. At least 80"x80". Rubber mallet is also key.

The assembly for me was a bear, because the instructions assume that you have a perfectly flat floor. The hardwood floor of my study is a bit uneven, so I had a hard time making sure all of the pieces lined up. Having to deal with this variable ended up doubling the assembly time. It took me around four hours to complete.

Having just completed the assembly, I'm rather exhausted, but mostly happy with the shelf. I only wish it were a bit more sturdy, given that it's so heavy. It wobbles a bit (side to side).

Good luck.

Hello! Does anyone know where I can get a copy of the EXPEDIT assembly instructions? Thanks!

I to am looking for the EXPEDIT INSTRUCTIONS and hardware. The hardware for the unit we have got lost in a move. I got a copy of the instructions and hardware from ikea, but apparently they changed the design a bit and a it does not go with the unit we have. I was wondering if anyone had the instructions for an expedit unit bought prior to say 2005. The one that uses the lock and screw method. IKEA said if we can get the instructions they can supply us with the correct hardware. FYI to anyone who needs the instruction and/or hardware IKEA is very good with that.

This is an excellent tute: http://wehow.ehow.com/how_2000031_assemble-ikea-expedit-bookcase.html

Gonna put two together tomorrow. Ugh.