There’s something different lurking back there in our family room.

It’s the $69 Ikea Expedit bookcase.  After writing about my love for a pair of tall Hemnes cabinets, I went back by to look at them again and I just didn’t feel like those were the right choice.  I knew if I got something tall that I wanted doors and I wasn’t convinced our family wouldn’t break the doors the very first day.  So, I opted for a super inexpensive yet functional shelf.

It can be scary buying furniture, even the less than $100 kind because no one wants to waste time or money with the wrong choice.  But, I knew if this shelf didn’t look right I could tuck it into a closet or turn it upright and use it in the garage or even in our bedroom.  I also bought four $15 baskets to hide the ugly stuff and ground the backless shelf a little.   And I can’t wait to play around with the books and the stuff and hang something else above it.  Right now the books are kind of pretty in rainboetical order {thanks to a commenter on my closet post for informing me of my new favorite term}.   The bulk of our book collection is still upstairs but now we have a place to stash the stuff we are currently using.

I have a set of four vintage casters that we tried on the shelf but it was just too heavy.  So, I’m in the market for non new non- bright silvery casters or feet or legs or industrial looking old wheels or something to add to the bottom.

And here how it looks in the room, you actually don’t really see much of the shelf since the green chair is always in front of it.  I’m glad to have something in that space with some storage and I’m really glad that I didn’t have to spend $800 to fill it.