I Mean, It Was Nice...Just Didn't Need It

 We did a little garage cleaning today. One item we found was a Rågrund from Ikea. I remember finding this at a garage sale and thought it was cool. I also thought it would work for a plant stand in our front room. We bought it, brought it home and put the plant on it.

It worked.

We used the chair/shelf thing for a couple of years. It was not ideal...we needed the stand to be taller. Fortunately, we found a plant stand that worked even better. Which begged the question, "What do we do with the Rågrund?"

We ended up taking to a thrift store.

I did a quick internet search. The Rågrund retails at Ikea for $69.99. It's described as a chair with a towel rack. If we needed a chair with a towel rack, we'd have kept it. It's the kind of thing that would work well in other parts of the world. When I lived in Scandinavia, I can see it in a bathroom or just outside a bathroom. Plus, it's made of bamboo which is great for humid areas...

Where we don't live.

I hope someone sees it at the thrift store and falls in love with it. I hope they have the perfect place for it in their home and it can be used as it was intended.

Too bad we didn't need it.

One Loft Bed W/Desk...To A Good Home

For the past two days, we've held a yard sale at our house. Yesterday was a bust, but this morning...well, it more than made up for it. We've held yard sales in the past--this one was our most successful.

There's a couple of things I've learned from this latest adventure:

1. No matter how much "quality" items one has, some people will look, then drive away.

2. No one needs bookshelves.

3. Things we think no one would want were taken.

4. Things we think would fly off the driveway sometimes don't get sold.

5. A Free Pile is extremely interesting to almost all yard sale patrons...especially to those of the male persuasion.

Let's focus on #4. Because we're moving to a home without tall ceilings, we need to off-load a loft bed. It's from IKEA. It's a full and it comes with a desk. And I thought someone would cart if off to make some kid's day. We started off with a price we felt was reasonable. No takers, no nibbles. For Day 2, we reduced the price of the bed (and everything else...) by half. Still nothing.

Currently, the bed is in our garage waiting to be disassembled and taken to our local thrift store.

Unless, of course, anyone out there wants, or think they can use, it. Let us know, and it's yours. You'll have to come get it--we can't deliver. But hurry, our appointment with the local thrift store is next Friday.

We learned a lot from our little sale. Perhaps the biggest thing we learned is this: don't let the crap accumulate in the first place, then a sale will not be necessary. 

Apparently, It Takes Two To Build A Fjellse...

We pulled out the box from the basement and brought it upstairs. I opened the box and saw the few pieces of wood and metal screws found therein. Those who have put together Swedish furniture delivered in a box know that, "Life is like a box of IKEA furniture--you never know how it's going to turn out."

Thankfully, the project was simple enough, but what I thought was most interesting, was the instruction manual...

And the illustrations.

It was the second illustration, specifically, that caught my attention. You see, according to the producers of this fine product, they feel having two people put the bed together is key. My first thought was they're telling me I needed a supervisor for the project. Of course, it's not necessarily a supervisor, just another smiling builder with a pencil behind his year--a clear supervisor trait.

Throwing caution to the wind, I forged forward, alone, buddy-less, supervisor-less. And I found success. But, unfortunately, when we purchased the Fjellse years ago, we failed to purchase the support that you put inside the Fjellse, thus making it an actual bed.

See, you never know how it's going to turn out.

Such is life.