Those of you who know us well already know we have a slight obsession with this place. And those of you who have been to my home know that every single piece of furniture we own was purchased at IKEA. (Seriously. Ok, so maybe not one file cabinet or my old drafting table. But everything else.) So whenever we see the need to add an item of any sort to our decor, we make a pilgrimage to this wonderland of good deals and build-your-own furniture.
As much as I love IKEA, the place wears me out. That might have something to do with the fact that we can never get out of there quickly. On Monday, we were there for at least 7 hours. And folks, we normally can clear an entire mall in under 45 minutes. We're not poky and we don't doddle. We're the fast-walkers that run you over in Wal-Mart. But time stands still at IKEA. Partially because we love it so much and we try to bask in it's glory for as long as we can. It's also because I have no knack for interior design and I have to steal as many ideas as possible, which is overwhelming when we live so far away. Then there's the fact that we're normally dropping a significant chunk of change and we have to do the math continuously to make sure we're within budget. All in all, I always leave IKEA feeling exhausted and a little numb. (And this time it didn't help that I was feeling under the weather.)
Still thinking, "HOW ON EARTH could you spend so much time in ONE STORE?!?" You've obviously never been to IKEA! It's not just a store. It's monstrous. It's gigantic. Take three SAM's clubs and stack them on top of each other, and that's an IKEA. Except only one level of it resembles a warehouse. The top level is one huge showroom, with real "livable" rooms set up showing how you can live comfortably in relatively small spaces. They have examples of creative decorating and storage ideas. You can test out the sofas or the closet doors. The showroom level also has ALL of the furniture: a section for couches, a section for tables, a section for beds....etc. But you don't really SHOP from this section. You just write down the numbers corresponding to what you want to purchase and then pick it up when you get to the "warehouse."
The middle section is like Target on steroids: pots & pans, dishes, pillows, rugs, curtains, bedspreads, lamps, frames, mirrors...all for a steal of a deal! This leads into the last section, which is the warehouse where you grab up all of the items you picked out in the showroom. All of the furniture IKEA sells has to be assembled once you get it home. Everything comes in boxes and is flat as possible so you can pack it easier. So you load up your carts and mosey (wearily, in our case) to the checkout.
Wanna see some of the stuff we got? OF COURSE you do!!!
This is our new amazing sofa! (Sorry about the weird floating-in-space picture. It came that way off the website.) We wanted something bigger and comfier for our basement. Yes it's bright orange. Yes it's super-snazzy-fantabulous. Oh, and it has huge ottomans. AND, all of the cushions' slipcovers come off and can be dry-cleaned, which is a pretty good idea when you live in a dog house like we do. I love it! :)
This is the rug I have wanted to buy since the very first time we ever went to IKEA. It is HUGE and will cover almost our entire basment. I adore it! No, it's not as bright as the picture shows. It's BRIGHTER. Wow, have you really never seen my house? What would you expect? ;) It's going to tie our new super orange couch in with our existing red chairs that we already have down there, as well as tie in (if not completely cover) our hideous blue carpet we so terribly despise.
I am psyched about this find! Jeremy and I can never find art that we really agree on. I've always kinda liked black and white photography but wasn't sure if it went in our house. You know, with all the COLOR. *haha* Well, not only is this a beautiful black and white photograph of my beloved New York City, the splash of color rocks my world! It's going upstairs in the living room. They also had one of the Chicago skyline (Jeremy's city of choice: GO CUBS! GO BEARS!) which was equally fantastic, but it was out of stock. We'll definitely look for it next time we come back because they would look great next to each other on the wall. (Ahem, I only know this because that's how they had them displayed in the showroom. *haha* Told you a steal ideas!!!)
2 comments:
OMG I have that carpet!!! (well, my sims have that carpet :)
Very cool! Enjoying your blog, I like keeping up with others from the comfort of my living room!
Post a Comment