Oh Billy Boy!

It's official, I am in love with the Billy bookcase. In fact, should we have a son one day, I think we will name our boy- Billy. The IKEA Billy bookcase has many of the features you would want in a son. It's strong, handsome, well adjusted and from start to finish only required 30 minutes of labor!



On the other hand, we will not be naming any daughter "Fira." Yes, this is a charming little chest of drawers with unlimited potential. At first glance the 50 pre-cut and pre-drilled parts looked like a piece of cake. Nope. Assembling the Fira was frustrating and time consuming. Quite frankly, perhaps created by the devil. Actually, look closer...



It is the work of the devil.

After an nearly an hour and dozens of bent nails I had only two drawers built! Finally, I got smart and glued together the drawers. Good old Elmers! Then once dry, I was able to nail without the drawer collapsing on me. Even so, I bent another dozen or so nails. No, if we have a daughter named after a project, it will be Pink for the pink kitchen. That project was a delightful creative challenge.



I am happy with the storage of the Fira. Right now, I even have some empty drawers which is nice because we all know this stuff multiplies!



This large jar was thrifted while donating a big bag of clothes. I plan on wrapping all the ribbon around old wooden spools.



This happy fellow had to come home with me. I paid way too much at a trendy vintage housewares boutique in Santa Fe. After talking with the owner for an hour, I knew I had to buy something and this was it. The expression "Hot Dog!" is my teaching trademark and thus I have quite the dog collection. I am so happy that the felted pin cushion that Laura made me fits perfectly in the planter in back. It's fitting too because Laura has her own hot dogs.



This is the "studio" open for business. The table was my grandparents dining room table. I bought a nice clear desk pad at IKEA and next to it is my cutting pad. Under the table I store Christmas decorations and my salt and pepper shaker collection. I am going to cry when they change the TV systems to digital. I adore my "retro" TV. There is nothing better than sewing along with Lucy and Ricky. There are notes on this photo over at Flickr that tell about the storage on the shelf.



This is the "studio" closed up for the night. I made the cover following a standard pattern and it is huge. It only occurred to me later to use the flimsy vinyl cover that came with it as a pattern. Duh! I'll cut it down to size later. The framed bulletin board is from the Goodwill in Santa Fe and it's next on my to do list.

I am toying with the idea of making a curtain to cover the shelf, but for now both Cliff and I are enjoying looking at some organization in this room!