Building a Library - Progress

As you might know, because I mention it like every other minute, I'm building my own library in my new apartment. Last weekend, I made a lot of progress and I wanted to show you!

When I started looking for my own place, I knew I had one major requirement: the place had to have two bedrooms, big enough to fit shelves in so I could make it my bookish paradise. When I came across this apartment I knew right away that this room *had* to be the library, and so it was decided.

I don't have many proper photo's from before, because I can't possibly fit the entire room in one picture, but here's an idea of what it looked like -- and how I pimped it.



Not too bad, but not exactly inspiring. The view is lovely; I look out over a lot of green and water so that's wonderful. The door to the rest of the house is actually fully open, the opening is to the left.

So the first thing I wanted to do with the room itself was to give it some colour. The white made it very meh and I really wanted a nice, sort of bright color to pop from behind the bookshelves, which would be going on these walls. I picked a turquois colour, a blue-ish green (though my dad is convinced it's green and he doesn't see the blue at all) and we started painting. It took me all day to paint these two walls, painting the edges of the walls with a pencil brush to make them as near as perfect as I could get them since I couldn't use tape.

BAM! Colour! The colour is more blue-toned than this picture, this is a little too green but perfectly shows the contrast between the wall, the white skirting (I have no idea if this is the right word lol) and the dark floor. The picture was taken right after painting which is why the paint is a bit splotchy. I finished the bottom of the walls later, so it looks a bit wonky here haha.

When I was done, I was supposed to wait with the assembling of the shelves. I was going to assemble them next weekend, together with my dad, because the shelves were so heavy. But I couldn't wait.

So I built one of the small shelves, which was surprisingly easy. It's a bit taller than I would have liked, but hey, more room for books! #alwayslookonthebrightside

And that's when things got out of hand.

I built a big shelf. Mind you, the thing is almost 2 metres high and 1,20 metres wide so it was a bit of a chore to get it up, but I did it! Huzzah! So then I sat down and had a bit of a break because seriously I was feeling like I just ran 10 miles (and I can only do 1,5 without passing out, so there). Then I started thinking. Should I..?

Well DUH, of course I would. I was lucky that I only wanted one of those doubleshelved bookcases on the short wall, because I had measured and I should have had at least half a metre of spare room.. Yeah, not so much. Maybe 20 cm? I have no idea, but I'm glad it fit lol. Note to self: let someone check your measuring xD

And I just kept going. I was like a book case building junkie or something, because I built the third one. By the time I was done with this one I was panting and seriously needed to sit down and have a nutella sandwich, so I did and I admired my handywork.

And why would I stop there when I only had one book case left to build? Sure it was dinner time and sure I was exhausted but I WOULD FINISH THIS *Hulk smash* (I Hulk smashed the cardboard boxes, not to worry, the shelves are safe)

Picture from a weird angle because quite frankly there were too many shelves to fit in the picture. I might have underestimated the amount of shelves I have now.. Not that I'm complaining, of course. IT'S A WALL OF SHELVES ZOMGWTFBBQ.

Holy shit. It took me the entire Sunday, both morning and afternoon and even part of the evening to paint and assemble, but MAN am I proud of myself for doing this.

Bonus pic: view from the door when you walk in. The small shelf will eventually go on the right wall, but since I'm considering to paint it the same colour as the rest of the walls, I think the small shelf won't be placed there for a little while. And yes, I'll be replacing that poor excuse for a lamp as soon as I buy a decent one lol.

Anyhoo, I'm not done yet, maybe halfway there, but HEY it looks like a library! And I did it all by myself! Well, okay, my dad helped a bit with the painting but the rest I did all by myself :D!

I cannot wait to move my books into this room and hang out in my comfy chair and just relax in my bookish heaven. Because quite frankly, that's what it is. And I love it.

<3

Books of Amber's Debut-a-Thon!

Hi! I'm not sure you remember me, but I'm Daphne and I used to blog around here. Well, guess what? I'm back. And I'm gonna catch up by doing Amber's Debut-a-Thon! 
Basically, it's a four day readathon with 2013 debuts and it's perfect for when you've been out of the loop for a while. I'm gonna catch up! 
Anyhoo, I have no idea what books I want to read, except for My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi. I've been wanting to read that for a while since it sounds so powerful. Other than that, feel free to leave a suggestion! Of course, I'll be looking through the Goodreads list and Amber's debut showcases to get some inspiration and then well, I think I'll be ordering some new additions to my library. It's been a while since I bought books and this is an excellent excuse ;-)
Oh and before I forget, my goal for the debut-a-thon; read four books! I'll probably be reading them during the weekend only because the week is very busy but HEY I'm gonna enjoy myself even if I have to lose sleep over it lol! 

Mission Accomplished: Moving House

This will be the last post on me moving house, I promise! I just wanted to let you guys know that I have officially moved into my new apartment and I've got more reading time than I thought :) I still have two rooms to finish; the study and the library. I'm hoping to finish painting this weekend so I can set up some furniture and clean out the moving boxes.

My current 'library' is in poor condition; books are everywhere -- from moving boxes to my dinner table to my newly put together wardrobe. Even though I love the fact that there are books in every room of my house, my bookish heart is crying because they are all over the place. I cannot wait to order my new bookshelves and get everything set up! I should be able to order my bookshelves next week, so hopefully they'll arrive by next Saturday. I'll keep you posted, of course :)

I also wanted to let you know that I've been writing reviews, I just haven't been able to get them up yet. I don't have internet yet in my new place and I'm guessing it'll take at least two weeks to get that up and running so it'll be a while.. But I'm trying to get my reviews online by borrowing my mum and dad's internet haha.

Anyway now you're in the loop! I know that I've been a terrible blogger lately but hopefully you'll understand :) Thank you for all of your patience -- I know I've tested it!

Review: Reel Life Starring Us by Lisa Greenwald

Reel Life Starring Us by Lisa Greenwald
Published: September 1st, 2011 (Harry N. Abrams)
Pages: 304
Source: NetGalley
Series: NA
Buy the book: Bookdepository
Rating: ★★☆☆☆


Rockwood Hills Junior High is known for the close-knit cliques that rule the school. When arty new girl Dina gets the opportunity to do a video project with queen bee Chelsea, she thinks this is her ticket to a great new social life. But Chelsea has bigger problems than Dina can imagine: her father has lost his job, and her family is teetering on the brink. Without knowing it, Dina might just get caught in Chelsea’s free fall.

This is a difficult review for me to write. I read the entire book, but that's all there is to say about that. I was frustrated with the two main characters from the beginning but somehow managed to read on, but I didn't really enjoy it. I don't know what made me continue reading; maybe the idea of finding out if it would get any better towards the end. But alas, that wasn't the case either.

Dina is the new girl at her school and seems to be hyperconscious of herself and everyone around her, especially Chelsea, who is the girl who has it all. However, Chelsea has a 'secret' and is constantly trying to prove herself to her friends.

The main girls are pretty much the same from the beginning; insecure, obsessing over a boy and whining. Oh man, the whining in this book is terrible. It almost had me trying to tear my hair out. Because both Dina and Chelsea are so insecure, their thoughts are filled with everything they are insecure about. It goes on and on and every alternating chapter just switches the person who whines. For me as a reader, it was really annoying to read about. For me, it felt like the project they were working on was only thrown in to make sure the girls would have to interact with each other.

The characters were flat, both the main characters and the main character's friend and I failed to be able to relate to any of them, even a little bit. The so-called secret that Chelsea was trying to keep was obvious from the start and the way everything turned out at the end wasn't exactly a surprise either.

I know that I'm being horribly negative in this review, but I was just so frustrated while reading it and I need to vent. There are a couple of things I really don't like in books and two of them happened to be the centerpieces in this one so I guess I should just say this wasn't for me, at all. I gave this one two stars because I managed to finish it, but I wouldn't recommend reading it.