How I Use My TROLIG

Yeah I know very well that I simply can’t have enough of IKEA. I went there on two Sundays in a row in September. I actually went alone on the second trip because Moosh could very well have gone insane if I made him go again. LOL. That was when I bought myself a TROLIG plus a couple of other things. In case if you are wondering what in the world a TROLIG is, it is actually a curtain rod set that requires no drilling because it is spring loaded. And just in case if anyone is as curious as me, I actually went to Google the word and learnt that it meant plausible in English but it could be wrong because people should not believe everything written online. (In that case, people shouldn’t believe a word I have blogged about too. LOL.) M and I have always been curious with the names of IKEA products. They can sound quite funny. If I am not wrong, there used to be a teenager’s desk called BRA!

I have always wanted some kind of cabinet / buffet to store plates, glasses and other serving ware within the dining area but because we live in a tiny pigeon hole with limited space, I am forced to put that dream on hold until we move to a house one day. We have also accumulated other pieces of furniture over the years that we do not wish to just chuck them out yet. One example of such a piece of furniture is this bookcase that I bought when I was at university. It is not a Billy. In fact, it is not even from IKEA but it is made of the same kind of material as those Billy bookcases. One blogger calls this material fake wood. Fake wood or not, we don’t wish to throw it out yet. We had recently placed it in front of the short wall separating the kitchen and the dining area. It has been empty ever since M moved his collection of DVDs that used to be stored there to a new lockable cabinet. Its current location makes it possible for me to use it as a buffet to create more storage room within our tiny kitchen but I was a little worried that the contents may become dusty because this so called ‘buffet’ has no doors. Then I remembered this TROLIG thingy in the 2010 IKEA catalogue. I wondered if I could make a curtain for this bookcase. Out came the measuring tape to see if the TROLIG would fit in between the bookcase’s sides and it fitted apparently. So off we went to IKEA that very Sunday and since it was our first visit after the release of the new catalogue, I insisted that we go through the whole shop to make sure I didn’t miss a single piece of new products. Poor M went along like a gentleman without complaining even when I mentioned my intention to not buy the TROLIG that day because I needed to think a little bit more. LOL. I could see that he was wondering why he was made to spend his Sunday negotiating his way through such a thick crowd to emerge at the other end to buy two jars of Lingonberry jam and a hot dog. LOL. Anyway I made up my mind six days later and went back to IKEA on the following Sunday to buy that TROLIG.

This is the TROLIG in its packaging.

This is the fake wood book case with the TROLIG fitted.

This is my notes on how to construct the curtain. If I am not following a pattern, I have to make notes before I start on a project. Once I have the skeletal framework on paper, I am pretty flexible with any alterations needed along the way. Okay, the fabric I chose is quite childish but that is the only blackish fabric I have in my stash at the moment. And yes, the fabric is from IKEA. I bought it a few months ago.

This is the end product. It is just a basic curtain but M and I are happy with it.

Note: We are happy with the outcome of this little project. The TROLIG mounted firmly to the inner sides of the bookcase and the rings/clips did their job in hanging the curtain but because the curtain rod is not permanently fixed, it might fall out if a curious hand yanks the curtain forcefully. This is not a problem to us since we do not have any children of our own and we are not likely to have any child visitors ever. How lonely, huh? In the catalogue, the TROLIG is used to fit inside window frames. I just thought I made it clear in case if anyone is interested to do what we did, he/she should consider carefully before making an educated choice.