Susan's Scribblings the Blog

I completed assembling the curio cabinet. It’s filled already.

The task was more involved than I anticipated, because the instructions didn’t provide as thorough guidance as I needed. The initial steps were finely detailed, with large photos of hardware assembly, but suddenly the illustrators left out the directions to help assemble the top shelf and the doors. They chose instead to include full-body photos of two people placing the panels. It was as if somebody tore the entire Battle of Hogwarts out of a Harry Potter book and expected the reader to figure everything out anyway.

Four of the six glass panels were in place, so World War III began when I needed to add the last three pieces without a panel falling or the hardware slipping. I tried loosening hardware to allow space for the install, then I removed the top and tried to put the door panels in first, but every effort nearly cost me damage to the glass or injury to myself. It took several tries, and over half an hour, not to mention some harsh language, tears, intricate thought and planning to get it done, but in the end it was finished. The sense of accomplishment as I emerged, sweaty and winded, from the battlefield, was intensely satisfying. It was also gratifying to put the instruction sheet through the shredder while performing an appropriate conqueror jig.

After finishing the assembly, I had the task of filling the cabinet. That was the fastest part of the entire project, because the items I had to display outnumbered the space I had. If I knew I needed the help of a math expert to calculate how much of a cabinet I would need at the start, I would have hired one from the nearest university math department.

After shifting and stacking my collection inside, I still have items left over, so my new task is to figure out how to shelve the extras. Do I buy another cabinet and start over? Admittedly that is not my first choice, but it may be the only one that is sure to work. Rather than go through the same assembly issues, maybe simple shelving will work better.

This is the problem of collecting things; finding ways to house them while displaying them with pride.

And knowing when to stop collecting, so you won’t have to buy another thing on which to display them.

Wish me luck with that.