After Thursdays excursion for the loveseat, it was crunch time. If I ever planned on getting things done in my living room, I had to get them done.
So, Friday night I built my spinning chair.
I am so pleased with this. Keith is going to cut a little off the bottom of the legs so that it will be the perfect spinning height for me, and with a little bit of luck, the perfect weaving height too. With only a half inch or so to that perfect height, I won't have to hem. Brilliant. I am going to tuck the pleats together 5 or 6 inches from the floor. They feel a little loosey goosey and untidy as is.
Of all the Ikea stuff I have ever built, that was the fastest. So fast that I decided to keep constructing.
The next piece wasn't really for my living room, but it is a big part of getting my house in order. Wait, didn't I do that before? Didn't I try to work with what I had? Yes I did and let me tell you, that was a great plan, but it wasn't working. Because I wasn't working. The folding work table in my bedroom/study had become a place to put stuff. There was stuff under it, there was stuff on it and there was stuff that was threatening to lock me in my room if I didn't get it sorted. I know me and if a place isn't working for me in some fundamental way, then it just becomes a catch all. It never became the work station I dreamed of. So this piece is step one in getting what I need to use the tools I have.
Because I am absolutely not going to card the fleece I have in my study, I needed something to get the carder out to the back deck. I looked at many different types of carts and felt this sturdy kitchen cart was going to be my best option. And again, I am pretty darn pleased.
Except for one thing. I get that a company wants to keep its production costs low, but the quality of the screws included with this piece was garbage. They were the new universal screw type, where you can use flat, Robertson or Phillips drivers with them and that part was fine, but you have got to have a screw that is made of metal strong enough to stand up to the pressure of a human hand. The cart is strong and sturdy, but not without considerable taking of Ikea's name in vain over the quality of the screws.
It's over now and all that remains is trying it out and I am looking forward to that.
Come Saturday morning, I had a decision to make. I could take a rest day off, or I could just drive on and get the elephant in the room built too.
I drove on.
This was just about the most fun thing I have ever made from Ikea. It was fascinating how it was packed, and interesting to see how they put it all together. Six bolts. Six. It really is rather genius. And the first sit was a complete surprise. I have sat many times on the various sofa's in the store and it was utterly unexpected.
It sits high at the moment. Really high. Even the landlord says so. And he is tall! Those bouncy full cushions and the brand new springs meant I kind of had to jump up a bit to sit all the way back. I know it will soften up some and that the stuffing will compact and believe me, that is fine with me! I never thought I would be saying that.
And my original plan to get a chair to match the sofa? Not so much in the plans right now. I love the way the tidy spinning chair sits in its sunny nook. I love that suddenly, my living room feels like it has a nook! I love how spacious it feels. No firm decision till after the loom arrives and is set up. If anything, a matching spinning chair? Cut to the perfect knitting chair height? Possibly my trusty old tub style chair from Ikea? I already know that's a great knitting chair. Decisions, decisions.
It was a lovely weekend in a lot of ways, but the most lovely part is that next up, is the loom.
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