My crooked bookshelf almost made me cry but I fixed it with a cereal box

I was in my living room trying to put together a free bookshelf I got from a neighbor, and the top shelf sagged a full inch on one side because the board was slightly warped. I cut a piece of an old cereal box, folded it into a thin shim, and slid it under the low corner, now it sits perfectly level. Have you ever fixed furniture with something totally random like cardboard or a bottle cap?

3 comments

3 Comments

lunawilson2mo ago

Oh man, I once fixed a wobbly table leg with a folded up napkin at a friend's dinner party. It worked perfectly but they still make fun of me for it. I guess I'm just a classy furniture repair guy.

scott.grace2mo ago

Ha, that napkin trick is the kind of MacGyver move that only works once before your friends never let you forget it! Did you at least get to finish your dinner before they started roasting you for it, or did the jokes start flying right away? I bet that napkin is still on that table somewhere, holding the whole house together.

beth_green2mo ago

My buddy Tom leveled a whole dresser with a stack of beer coasters once. He was staying at a cheap motel and the thing rocked so bad every time he opened a drawer. He just grabbed a handful of those cardboard coasters from the bar and stuffed them under one leg until it stopped moving. Left them there the whole trip, said it worked better than anything from a hardware store.