IKEA - Part 2, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I'm sure you're all dying to see pictures of the new IKEA furniture all put together and in it's place. So am I, but it was not meant to be. Here is the rest of the story.

The day after we got home from Portland I was anxious to put Anna's new bed together (I decided to wait for David's sister Penny, and his mom to come a week later to put together the entertainment center). The bed was a lot of work, but it came together nicely, and it looks great. Anna loves it, and the trundle bed worked perfectly when Penny came and got to sleep right next to Anna. That is the Good part of the story.

The other Good part of the story are my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Without them, I would have spent a day crying, and would have given up entirely. They got here Thursday night, and Friday morning we spent at the craft fair and had a lovely time. David got home from work around 2 and we started to put together the entertainment center. This is where the Bad comes in. Let me remind you what it looks like. Do you see the center "box" for the TV? That is where the assembly begins. Penny and I had got that box put together, and David, with his keen eye, asks, "will the TV fit in that space?" My stomach dropped, because I knew immediately it wouldn't. I also had a flash of memory of trying to figure out the dimensions of the TV space from the internet months ago, but only finding the overall dimensions. We broke out the tape measure and of course the TV is two inches too wide and two inches too tall. This is the part where I would have started to cry. I can't tell you how many times I have thought through the decision to buy this piece of furniture that I failed to measure. We talked through all our options (buy a new TV, wrap up the pieces and return the entertainment center to IKEA, sell it, put it somewhere else). We decided in the end to keep it and use it in the new toy room for shelves. Very nice, super cute shelves. Penny and Linda were very encouraging, and I put my disappointment behind me, and moved on to the rest of the project.

This is where the ugly part begins. The rest of the project was to shift around all the furniture upstairs. I had also been contemplating this idea for some time. I wanted to move all the toys and her slide bed into the biggest room, recreate the nice guest bedroom that we once had, and move my craft and sewing desks into our bedroom, making room for the new toy room (are you noticing the domino effect here). We decided to begin in our bedroom. We needed to move our bed over to make room for the big craft desk, a big old oak desk that David bought in Tennessee. This is no small feat. Our bed is very large and includes shelves, etc. To move it, all the parts have to be disconnected and moved separately and reconnected. It took us hours. Then we had to clean off the desk(not a small task), and move it. Well, we got it nicely wedged into our doorway where we realized it would not go in. The desk was a half an inch to big, or the doorway was a half an inch too narrow. We tried every which way we could think of, but it just wouldn't fit. It was very ugly. Again, Penny and Linda came to the rescue. I was ready to give up entirely. I was ready to sell the desk, I even said I was ready to sell the whole house. Penny said, we are going to get that desk in there if we have to saw off the legs. Linda said, "time for dinner, we all need a break!" They were both right.

This is where the good returns. In the morning we had a fresh take on things. We decided we would saw off a little of the desk legs. We went ahead moving the other furniture around and putting together the entertainment center in the new toy room. In the end it all came together beautifully. We have a fantastic new toy room, with incredible storage:) a very nice guest room, and a functional craft space in a very well furnished bedroom. A humongous thanks to Penny and Mom who made it all happen.

The only ugly that remains is the family room, which is in limbo and disarray. Now I have to find just the right piece of furniture again. This time I promise I will measure. Like President Hinckley says, it all works out in the end. I believe he was referring to life on a slightly grander scale than family room furniture, but it applies all the same.