We’re closing in on the finishing touches on our apartment (even though we moved in November). We’ve painted the walls, got the furniture, and even the dishes. I think it’s safe to say that the only remaining things we need are for the bedroom. I’d like to get a nice new linen set (probably the RISP set from Ikea with a both a 2 and 1 comforter or a 3+1 set).

Last trip included a new bookcase (BILLY, $34.99). I had originally wanted the smaller one that was half the size, but once I went to the showroom and saw that the one double the size (pictured to the left) was only $10 more and would use our 10-foot ceilings more effectively, I was convinced. The assembly was very quick and easy. The only problem is that the bookcase teeter-totters a little bit, so I did reluctantly have to anchor into the wall. The good thing is you can’t see the top of the bookcase so you can’t see the anchoring device! Another bad thing is that this bookcase doesn’t sit flush against the walls because our stupid apartment has thick molding along the bottom of the walls and strip of wood to “line” the hard wood floors. The bookcase holds my books, magazines, and other things quite nicely. I also like how the boxes fit perfectly! These boxes are from Ikea (LINGO) and were $4.99 for a pack of two. They were from a previous Ikea trip and had been hanging out underneath our side tables and hidden in our wardrobe previously holding un-reachable books sideways! One is empty now (don’t worry, soon to be filled), and one has computer accessories in it. The bottom shelf holds my extra toiletries that I don’t use that often (We don’t have a medicine cabinet in our bathroom). If I need to, I can move this bin back underneath the sink to where it used to be, but for now it has a nice little home. The top shelf will hold linens once I do laundry.

Other purchases were a set of SNÄLL glasses in a nice turquoise color ($5.99 for 6). I liked the squiggly ones better than the flower printed ones, but strangely only 2 lined glasses come in a set, the remaining 4 are flower printed. Also, PLASTIS ice tray ($1.99), TRIPP storage tins ($2.99 for 3), another IKEA 365+ vegetable knife ($4.99), PRICKIG microwave cover to replace the one Dan accidentally melted ($1.99), a larger, 11″ SKÄNKA frying pan ($14.99), and a set of DRÄLLA bendable chopping boards ($1.99 for 2).

We had originally been planning to get a shower curtain and new pillows for our couch at Ikea, but we received a CB2 catalog in the mail and decided to order from there instead. CB2 is a company that is related to Crate & Barrel, but is more modern and serves a younger crowd. We bought 2 azure multistripe pillows (23″!) and I convinced Danny to let us also get a little cute elephant accent pillow. I thought the elephant pillow would tie together the red LACK tables, wall color, and couch with the pillows nicely. We also got a nice monterey shower curtain for our bathroom. We currently only have a liner in our bathroom with no curtain. We’ve been having trouble finding a shower curtain that looked nice and also matched our weird peach tiled bathroom walls. We both liked the grey in this curtain as well as the bright blue and green to tie the whole apartment together.