Saturday, August 19, 2006

The Eclectic World of Bookcases

Over the past year, I realized how hit and miss buying bookcases really is. If you want something incredibly cheap, you can get a fairly sturdy (albeit, flimsy when compared to wood or thicker particle board) for around $50... upwards to $150 for just slightly better quality. If you want something made out of real wood, get ready to pay an arm and a leg. Given that I'm a cheap bastard (but a book lover), I had to look for something in between. I would surprised to see how expensive IKEA bookcases are, for what you get. The quality is pretty crappy, IMO. Much worse than IKEA products of 15 years ago (as my father has some IKEA bookcases). So in the end, I settled on one from Staples Business Depot. I ended up paying around middle of the line, and the best deal, IMO, given the quality of the bookcases. Cost me $179 each. Two days after, they jumped to $199 each, so I guess I got them just in time.

Took me just over 2 hours to put the first one up (bought two). It looks really nice, so I'm very impressed. That being said, my back hurts from all the bending over, but it was worth it. Assembly wasn't that bad... after I got over my own incompetence. The instructions were pretty decent, since I never read anything and only really look at the pictures. If you can't look at the picture and tell that they've flipped a bookcase, then you have bigger issues. Anyway, I think I'll put the other one up tomorrow as I believe a beer is in order.

Editor's Note: Scratched the beer and put up the second bookcase. I'll regret it as I fall asleep in my cube tomorrow. I also dropped a book and totally ruined it... it was The Art of War. Fitting, after my war with the bookcase.

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