My father and I went out to IKEA in East Palo Alto to pick up a coffee table for my TV and video game consoles, and three tall bookshelves that match the one that I already have. I spent the past weekend putting everything together to transform my modest studio apartment into something much more respectable.

The coffee table was the easiest to put together, replacing an empty green tub turned upside down and green crates from my first tour through college. The TV, DVD player and video switcher went on top. The PlayStation One and GameCube consoles, and the DVDs in the black nylon cases, went on the shelf. The video games and DVD box sets went into a pair of clear containers that I got from The Container Store to keep everything organized and dust free.

Putting together the shelving units were more involved as each one got built and put aside. I managed to mess up on one unit by having the inside shelf holes facing out, not realizing my mistake until I tried to put the shelves in, and took it apart to start over again. A strap connects the top of the shelf to the wall. The funny part about that was the manual diagram showing two screws, but only one screw was in the package. I nailed the straps to the shelves and screwed the other end into the wall.

After moving 300+ books out of the away, the old particle board shelf got hauled out to the recycling bin outside. All the tall shelves went against the wall next to my bed.. I relocated the short shelf next to the kitchen table to put the phone equipment and computer books on top. The books went back on the shelves in a semi-organized fashion to form a new library.