Another project off the list

In another major step forward for the apartment, Kevin spent all of two weeks ago sanding, staining and varnishing his bookcases, and now they're gorgeous and done! There was just enough time before our out-of-town friends showed up for a long weekend to air out the apartment, truck them back downstairs and fill them up with the stacks of books.

He started with some unfinished pine cube shelves from the furniture store next to our fish store (so convenient!):



After two coats of stain, one coat of varnish, and four days of semi-ventilated fumes in the apartment (we were both thinking that having a garage would be nice...), here they are drying in the sun:



My only contributions to this project were carrying them upstairs and setting up a work area, then carrying them back downstairs when he was done, so I'm appreciating all of his work. Here's the lovely view as seen from the couch:



Now that room is a funny combination of really nice, matching, stylish furniture (the new couch, bookshelves, and my pretty wood end tables), college furniture (lots of particle board office furniture that's seen one too many moves), crazy electronics (kevin's computer, newish huge tv and xbox) and large item storage (yoga mats, empty poster frames, camping gear and sundry).

The shelves are a huge step in the right direction.