So I found them eventually, all 216 parts for the two bookcases. And look how organised I was when I packed them up!

That didn’t help though when I in the end couldn’t find the bag! I found it by accident while looking for something entirely different and totally unrelated. As you do.

I didn’t waste any time and got on the assembly first thing this morning. Pretty fast work with my little half-Swedish helper. It’s in her blood, building Ikea flat packs.

Look at her placing those wooden dowels in all the right places!

They need to be anchored in the wall before I can start loading them up, but this is where they’ll go, in the dining room.

Eventually they’ll be replaced by built-ins but that’s a bit down the path. For now we’re working “functional” as opposed to “pretty”.

Unfortunately. Welcome to my brown brown world.