10 bookcases, 2 dressers, 1 sleeper-sofa, 1 mattress for bed, feather bed for mattress, feather blanket, duvet cover, dog bed, and a kitchen table that seats 10. We broke our all time record for money spent shopping at Ikea in one trip. We needed most of this stuff, the feather bed to put on top of the mattress was a nicety, as was the duvet cover, but everything else was needed. Yes, even the dog bed. Everyone had a bed in the house but the dog and he was feeling left out. Yes, we really needed 10 bookcases and my husband and I are taking bets on if we have to go back to get more. Yes, we really have that many books. My dad gets on to me about every other month for hording books. I keep telling him that books are my friends and I can’t part with them but he doesn’t listen. It’s funny because he spends just as much every month at Barnes and Noble as I do. He just sends his paperbacks over seas to the military men and women to read when he is done with them. It saves him space, and needing to go to Ikea (or anywhere else) for 10 bookcases.
We moved into a new house a month before Thanksgiving. This was a case of we threw out half of everything where we didn’t have to move it. Most of the stuff we tossed out was second hand when we received it and was on its last leg. Moving is always an excuse to get rid of old furniture and stuff you don’t want to make room for new stuff. We took advantage of it. I have seven children and (the reason we need a table that seats 10…seating 9 is just weird) believe me when I say that things get stress tested something horrible in my house. I have often said that companies should contract my family out to stress test all their new products. If it lives for more than three months in my house, it should be considered a keeper. If anything can live three weeks in the presence of my youngest child, a seven year old boy with autism who can disassemble an entire house in less than ten minutes with a screwdriver, it’s a miracle. Three months and it should be put in the Guinness Book of World Records. I will never forget the day my husband came home from work to discover my youngest had completely disassembled the bunk bed he shares with his brother and my husband had to put it back together. At least none of the screws were lost. I was happy the boy was quiet for a change, assumed he was taking a nap, and didn’t bother to check on him. Bad mommy!
I have come to realize over the years that as much as I love Ikea, others hate it. They aren’t happy with furniture that they have to put together, even if it isn’t made of cheap particle board. They are also concerned about the more than reasonable prices. If it’s so cheap, it must not be sturdy. Believe me, it’s sturdy enough. Most everything has held up to my son, who I am convinced, would retire Super Nanny in under a week. Much like every store, some items are going to be better than others. It’s just the way it is.
For those that have never been to Ikea, it’s a wonderland of everything domestic. You can easily outfit an entire house there, down to wood flooring, silverware and house plants. The showroom alone is impressive. Each display in the showroom shows you one way to decorate and furnish a room, down to the very last detail. Some of the faux living rooms had working TVs that were airing School House Rock and Charlotte’s Web. During our last visit we discovered that people actually went to Ikea to hang out and socialize. Before you know it, it’s going to be one of the top places to find your next significant other. After all, how a person chooses to decorate tells you a lot about them. Someone purchasing a lot of storage items either has a lot of stuff or is obsessive and anal retentive about where everything goes.
As we were loading all of the items that we went after my husband half joked that I needed to write a survival guide to shopping at Ikea. He listed items such as “eat before you go” and “stay well hydrated”. The thing is, as more stores go up around the U.S. more and more people will find themselves stepping into the store for the first time. There are some things that everyone should know about shopping at Ikea.
Ikea is popular. Very popular. So popular that Mitchel Musso from Hannah Montana recently did the Ikea tour. The parking lot is as big as the store and there is even more parking under the store. Expect a lot of people when you go. I am talking Disneyland type of crowds, especially on the weekend. The upside is the store is so big that you don’t always notice the number of people in there.
There is no such thing as a quick trip to Ikea. Make sure you have a couple hours. You have to walk through the showroom, following the arrows where you don’t get lost, with a golf pencil and shopping sheet to mark down where to find your items once you get to the warehouse. Once you get downstairs the first part of the warehouse is more or less like any other store. Items such as dishes, bath mats, ice cube trays and curtains are available for purchase, each one previously spotted upstairs in the showroom.
If you get hungry while at Ikea they have a cafeteria with some of the best Swedish meatballs around. Next to the exit they have a little Swedish grocery store where you can have that great Swedish Ikea taste at home. By decorating your home exclusively in items purchased from Ikea and eating their food, you can easily recreate your visit on a daily basis from the comfort of your own home.
The real trick is using their carts. No one else has a cart design like Ikea. Not only can you push your cart forward and back, but you can push it side to side. This makes it difficult to push, especially when full. The flat carts are even worse.
In the warehouse you have to load your boxes onto your own flat cart, as it tries to get away from you. They really should have designed those flat carts with brakes to prevent aggravation. Everything is flat packed for easy transport home. That doesn’t mean it’s not heavy. If just the thought of lifting something heaver than a sack of potatoes gives you a hernia, you will need to bring someone from your local gym with you to do the heavy stuff.
Ikea does everything they can to make assembly a no-brainer for those who have no assembly skills. Included in every box is a special Swedish Ikea L wrench that is used for most items. You don’t even need to know your way around a toolbox in order to assembly your new couch, bookcase or kitchen cabinet. For those few items that require another tool or two Ikea has put together an inexpensive tool box that can be purchased that contains all the right tools for the job. This takes away the aggravation of looking for the right screwdriver or wondering where you put the hammer.
Once you have everything loaded into and onto your carts it’s time for checkout. You have your choice between a real cashier or for those introverts who hate cashiers, the ever popular self check out line. To encourage the use of reusable bags, that you can also purchase in Ikea blue for fifty-nine cents, and cut down on plastic bags clogging up the environment, Ikea now charges five cents for a plastic bag. I am also assuming, because they used to be free, that bag costs got out of hand since they have you bag your own stuff. Another case of a handful of bag abusers ruining it for the rest of us. On the other hand, reusable Ikea bags can be used for so many other things. You can take them to the grocery store to bag your groceries in, you can use them as beach bags, and they can even be used as laundry bags. They hold a lot of stuff and are really sturdy.
When it comes to loading everything into your car, van or Uhaul, once again, you are on your own. They have a huge loading zone and even provide free twine in case you have to secure something to your roof. Their return policy is hassle free as long as you have your receipt and original packaging. The one thing that I love about Ikea is that if you need extra hardware for whatever reason, you can go right over to customer service and purchase what you need, not something close that you would find at the hardware store, and for half the cost. Ikea really has thought of everything making my house look like a do-it-yourself Swedish furniture emporium down to the dachshund approved dog bed.
